Ranma Unleashed!
by Arthur Hansen
Summary: Superman Unbound Ranma-Lois&Clark: Ranma runs into the world of Lois & Clark's.
1. Ranma Unleashed in China!

Ranma Unleashed

-

A fan fiction story revolving around the world of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures" and "Ranma 1/2." No infringement of ownership is meant. It is just for fun.

-

"I won't go easy on you, boy!" the stout, middle-aged man wearing a white karate-dogi yelled. The fact that he was balanced on a bamboo pole set in the middle of a small pool seemed to matter little to him.

His son, similarly clad and also standing on another bamboo pole, just seemed happy about the challenge. "Just the way I like it!" he crowed back.

All around them lay many pools, each with one or two bamboo poles. It looked like some sort of exotic training locations, just perfect for two martial artists on the path of self-improvement. Which it supposedly was.

For just a moment, the air hung still. Neither martial artist took note or heeded the cries from a Chinese guide or the pulsating energies that were hidden just below the waters. With a mutual yell, they leaped at each other, fist and feet trying to snake past the other's defense.

The young man prevailed, kicking his father into a pool. Things became confused as a panda leaped from the pool, not his father! It attacked viciously, attempting to hit him with punches and kicks. The boy was so rattled that he barely heard the guide say something about it being "too tragic" and "pool of drowned panda!" Finally, the panda broke through the shocked boy's defenses, sending him plummeting into another pool.

The first thing Ranma noticed (as the boy was named) after he stood up was that he was feeling rather off-center and that his clothing wasn't hanging correctly on his body. Off to the side, the guide seemed to be blathering on about "pool of drowned girl" and "terrible story about girl who drowned here..."

Suddenly, the guide's words finally penetrated his consciousness. Typically, Ranma would have listened to his intuition that was screaming that danger was about to descend upon him. But he, no _she_, was too focused on checking for upper-female body parts.

She suddenly screamed like a girl, even as energy started to arc from the pool, golden yellow like the sun. With a blinding flash, energy screamed into her body like an electrical monsoon.

-

Ranma woke up to a throbbing headache. He seemed to be on some sort of mat in a hut of some sort. "Oh, man! I had some sort of weird dream. I fell into this pool and turned into a girl!"

A broad faced man in a Chinese uniform took a pipe out of his mouth. "Customer is too, too funny! That was no dream, that was accursed training ground! Customer fell into pool of drowned girl."

The boy patted his chest very quickly. "But I'm not a girl!"

Genma Saotome nodded sagely. "Hot water can temporarily cure us. Until cold water activates it again."

"Us?" Ranma echoed. "Oh, yeah! You turned into a panda!"

"Our guide has promised to lead us to a nearby village that may have some help for us." Genma said.

"Whatever."

-

"Stupid rain," Ranma groused to herself. She tried to keep it from her voice, but this was really freaking her out. Everything seemed to feel and look just... different. She also couldn't understand _why_ she felt so much better. It was like her steps were extra bouncy, and gravity could barely hold her to the ground. She kept bouncing five feet when she meant to just take a step.

Genma-panda and the guide just watched blankly as Ranma seemed to struggle _not_ to jump into the air, striking branches and trees with far too much frequency. When she grabbed at a tree to stand up and crushed it to pulp, she started to worry. The tree crashed to the ground, torn up from her casual strength.

Genma-panda swatted her hard and then started to moan like he had hurt the paw.

"Hey, Old Man! Hold still a second." Ranma tried to carefully pick up her father, to test her suddenly increased strength.

Genma-panda gasped and started to make more weird moaning noises. When Ranma put him down he just lay on the ground moaning.

She could also swear that for just a moment, here and there, she could see the bones in the panda in front of her. But whenever she blinked, it went away. It also looked like a couple of ribs might be broken.

"This is really freaking me out, Pop!"

The guide, from a safe distance, spoke up. "Too, too strange."

"Um, Mr. Guide? Could you heat up some water. I think we need it." Ranma sounded scared even in her own ears. Genma hadn't stood up yet.

After quickly heating the water and reverting them both to their original forms, Ranma found out just how much "she" had inadvertently hurt his father.

"Ungrateful boy," Genma wheezed. "You didn't have to break my ribs!"

"I don't get it! I thought you said girls were weaker than boys?" Ranma yelled out.

"They are, normally! But something is unusual about your curse. It is inhumanly strong," Genma said.

Ranma started to wrap his father's ribs. "Everything is just wrong. I could swear I even saw your bones... though your skin!"

"We must figure out the secret of your cursed form! If we could harness that power, our school would become unstoppable!" Genma exclaimed, and then grasped his ribs in pain. "That's going to be a few days to heal."

Ranma blinked as the thought percolated through his brain. "That power! It will be mine! I'll do whatever I can to master it!"

Proud words, but after another day of this, she was only slowly getting the hang of it, even if her clothing was pretty much trashed.

They were walking into the village the guide had mentioned, finally.

"Oh, customer is too lucky! Today is great day, many warriors test themselves in tournament!" the guide exclaimed brightly as two girls finished their duel. The prettier girl bested the hulking, barely female figure.

"That girl has some serious power," Ranma commented around the food she was wolfing down. The panda right next to her nodded his agreement.

He turned to tell his 'customers' something more when he noted that they were eating the _Prize_ of the tournament. "Aie! What are customers doing?"

He was interrupted by the winner of the match as she stomped up, looking very angry and yelling something out in Chinese.

"She ask what you do eating her prize, since she just won tourney!" the guide supplied helpfully.

Genma and Ranma looked over to the sign that they had totally missed just a moment ago. They shared a quick glance at each other, before Ranma spoke up. "Well, if I win the tournament it'll be alright, right?"

The guide translated for the champion. "She agrees!"

The two girls bounced to onto the large log that was being used as the battle-platform to the cheers of the on looking crowd. The village champion charged the girl with a snarl, seemingly confident of her victory. She swung her two bonbori to crush the impudent outsider to dust!

Ranma focused on the girl, watching her as she charged. She almost felt a crackle in her nerves as everything seemed to slow down in some form or another. Ranma just shook her head for second, never taking her eyes off of the girl. This champion was leaving herself terribly wide open. And incredibly slow, by her standards.

With a carefully controlled weak snap-kick, Ranma launched the girl into the air. The red-head just grinned to herself as she saw the girl fly _slowly _up... up... and up above the village to crash out of sight, trailing blood from her jaw. "Huh?" Ranma said to herself, blinking her eyes. Had she really seen that correctly?

The crowd stood silent for just a second, before a couple of the warriors ran towards where the champion landed.

"Huh. Didn't mean to kick her... quite so hard. I barely touched her. Hope she's fine. Oh, well. That prize is mine!" Ranma just grinned at the thought of all that food. Unpleasant thoughts were best ignored for as long as possible.

The panda next to her just nodded his agreement. He hadn't really seen that kick or what had happened to the girl. All he seen was a blur and the girl arcing over the village.

One of the girls that had run after their champion finally returned, her face twisted with the anger she felt. She started yelling something quickly while pointing at the pair at the table. Whatever it was seemed to be upsetting many people.

Suddenly, a young man with long hair and wearing voluminous robes leaped above the crowd.

The guide was starting to sweat nervously. "Er, they say you killed champion! This young man swear ever-lasting blood feud against you and your own!"

Ranma gaped! "Wha-?"

Surprisingly enough, the crowd dove away from the duo sitting at the food table. The robed figure suddenly unleashed a hail of knives. Ranma was so surprised she barely dodged most of them. She mentally cringed at the cuts she expected to feel. But no pain erupted from the weapons, even the one she felt _bounce_ off her bicep! She new this cursed body was tough, but to ignore blades?

A weird bellow roared out from near her as she slid across the ground. Genma-panda clutched his arm with his other paw. A dagger was buried up to the haft.

Ranma snarled suddenly as she turned back around. "You hurt my father! I'll never forgive you for that!"

Genma hooted something that only he had an idea of what meant. He hopped to his feet and dashed off, at a surprisingly fast pace for a panda. In moments, he was out of sight.

"My name is Ranma Saotome! I accept your challenge," she cried out as she raised her fists up in challenged.

The onlookers just looked on in surprise. Did she feel that she could defeat all of them by herself?

The young man in robes yelled out something in anger. He only understood a little of the Japanese that the girl was speaking. "Die!" he finally screamed as he charged the girl, his swords out and ready to sweep her into several pieces.

Ranma watched the slow attack. She didn't even bother to move. At the very last moment, she merely caught the blades in her hands, effortlessly.

The crowds, and Mousse, just gasped. "Demon!" the young Joketzu man cried out in shock in his native tongue.

"Good night, Gracie!" the petite Japanese girl said as she lightly flat-palmed Mousse away. He rocketed away a good sixty feet, feeling his ribs break. She turned to start after her father when an old woman moved in front of her.

It sounded like she was ordering two slightly younger woman to do something and then something to the crowd that caused them to flee. She turned back to Ranma. In passable Japanese, she called out, "Demon, you shall not pass from the lands of the Joketzu with the blood of our champion on your hand. So swears Lo Shwan!" She took a martial pose, easily balanced on one leg.

Ranma felt a formidable fighting spirit from her. That just caused the young martial artist to just grin ferally. "You don't have enough power to stop me."

"Pi-Do-Po-Ti-Shi!" the matron cried, her hands moving fast, even by Ranma's new, superhuman speed. Arcs of light streaked from her hands and at Ranma.

Ranma leaped out of the, barely! But, so unused to her new strength she stripped the ground out from under her own feet. She spun into the air, arms and legs akimbo. The ground where she had seemed to explode from her jump and the light that slammed into it! "Wa-a-a-a-a-a-a!" Ranma cried as she bounced off of a tree.

"Fool! You have power, but no skill!" the matronly Joketzu said, even as she charged into the battle. "I am the battle master of the Joketzu! Skill will always defeat strength! Chestnuts Roasting Over an Open Fire!" Her fists blurred into action striking the barely rising Ranma in death vitals with no mercy.

The red-haired girl was flung back into the air, mostly unhurt. She had actually felt that! It had taken Genma going all out to hit as hard as this woman had! And she had hit her dozens of times. Ranma flipped to land on her feet, surprising Lo Shwan.

That had been rather graceful, all in all. If this demon was actually skilled, she was as good as dead, Lo Shwan thought to herself. There may only be one way to defeat her. And at that, it would come with a great cost.

"I almost felt that!" Ranma called out in shock. Suddenly she was engulfed in flames that only singed her very tough skin. It did burn away most of her dogi though. "Hey!"

"She survived the Purifying Flames of Faltine?" one of the women that Lo Shwan had sent off earlier said in apparent shock, flame licking out from an amulet she wore.

Ranma charged the two newcomers, slipping and sliding in her haste. These people were trying to kill her! Her feet moved frantically to push her, but the hard-packed ground was too soft. She forgot her strength for just a moment as she spun between the two new attackers. The two women barely even saw the foreigner move before she struck. The ground exploded behind her running form as Ranma's hand passed through the left woman's shoulder in a spray of blood. The shock of seeing that managed to get the girl to pull back on her stupendous strength at the very last moment; merely shattering her partner's thigh into a dozen pieces. "Crap! I didn't mean-" Ranma started to say as she tumbled across the ground.

"Demon. You will now die. Three thousand years of Joketzu battle-lore will eradicate you! You will harm not harm anyone else!" Lo Shwan screamed as she charged.

I can't hit her hard, she'll just die, Ranma thought furiously as she bounced to her feet. She started to try and slap Lo Shwan. But she was as elusive as the wind.

"As graceful as a cow." Lo Shwan felt the thumb scrape her face.

"The face of a goat hind." The matriarch's shirt ripped from the near scrape.

"As talented as a slug!"

Again Ranma missed by the barest margins.

"As stupid as a man!"

Ranma's face twisted up in anger at each of Lo Shwan's insult.

"Dragon's Rising Ascension Blast!" she managed to scream at the last moment. Never had she pushed her body so fast, never had she fought such a swift demon. Her cold fist missed the stranger by what seemed a mile.

Ranma never knew what hit her. It felt like a bomb went off in her stomach, which was a fair approximation of the power that hit her. That moment would be etched Ranma's mind for all time. The tornado that was powered by her own growing strength and anger. Later, she would wonder at the hot and cold winds that she could somehow see.

But that would be far later, when she awoke days later.

Off in the distance, a panda watched a tornado of epic proportion explode into existance. He saw the the village explode as if one of the mighty bombs of great nations had gone off. He managed to hide behind a large boulder just in time as trees were ripped from the ground and tossed into the air.

As suddenly as it came into existance, it winked out. Genma felt an unfamiliar pang of worry. There was _nothing_ left of the village bigger than a stick. Debris started to rain from the sky.

The panda watched the sky closely. Perhaps Ranma had been thrown into that maelstrom and was going to crash to the ground wounded and dying. He waited five minutes.

Then ten minutes. Ice was starting to creep into his heart.

Suddenly, a shooting star lit up the daytime sky. The meteorite flashed through the air like a spark of the Sun to slam into the earth just a few miles away with a shattering trans-sonic boom.

If... that was Ranma... there was no way he could have survivied that. None! But Genma couldn't ignore the fact that he _felt_ like that was most likely Ranma. The panda took off, hoping beyound hope that Ranma was still alive.

If he had been a man, he would have sobbed in relief when he got to the prone body. Her hair was singed, her skin red and burned.

But she breathed.

Genma carefully lifted the girl into his ursine arms. Such power that those women had! It dwarfed the Master's own power significantly! He must steal those techniques.

With a sudden surge of will, Genma released something he thought he would never have to use again.

Against the power to destroy cities, his Umisenken, the Sea of One Thousand Fists was nothing. For his and his son's sake, he released his forbidden techniques.

-

Arthur Hansen


	2. Battle out of China!

Ranma Unleashed - Part II

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A fan fiction story revolving around the world of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures" and "Ranma 1/2." No infringement of ownership is meant. It is just for fun.

-

Ranma blinked her eyes open as sunlight drifted across her face. "What? Wanna to sleep!" she mumbled. After a while, it occurred to her that she was really, terribly hungry. She sat up and realized that she was in her father's sleeping bag. She seemed to be wearing one of her undershirts and boxers and that was about it.

She looked around at the little hollow that she seemed to be hidden in. A large tree had fallen over the dip in the ground and bushes hid her from casual view.

Off in the distance, she thought she heard people talking, it sounded like Chinese to her.

Her father seemed to literally step out of the air, just in front of her. He looked a bit ragged, his arm and ribs still wrapped in bandages. "You finally woke up? Good. Keep quiet, it isn't safe here."

The girl licked her dry lips. She was surprised to see her father raise a cup of water to her lips, then a rice ball. "Thanks." That was weird, she must have been hurt worse than... Images suddenly cascaded through her minds-eye. Pain, surprise and for just a moment, _stars and a blue curve beneath her._ "So what happened?"

Genma nodded. "You were at that village and fought. The village exploded. What happened?" Genma looked at her expectedly.

"It was-" Ranma thought for a second, replaying the last few minutes of the fight perfectly in her head. "Some sort of technique. All she seemed to be doing was dodging, but she was- cold? and she led me. Led me into a spiral. While getting me really angry. I was furious. She then punched. It looked like it was going to miss and then it felt like semi truck hit me." She licked her lips nervously. _Stars._ "I don't remember much after that."

"A tornado blew the village away. Such a devastating technique. You landed nearby and I rescued you." Genma nodded his head seriously. "They are still hunting us, three days later. We'll move on when it gets darker."

"Three days?" Ranma almost cried out, incredulous.

"You nearly died. The path of a true martial artist is _always _fraught with peril," her father said finally with a very grim voice. "Now that you are awake, we'll head deeper into the mountains. I found a path that I don't think they will follow. They seem to be avoiding that mountain pass for some reason."

-

After the sun had set, the two martial artists had left. They traveled for a large portion of the night. Surprisingly, Genma would not left Ranma switch from her cursed form. "You can survive better," was all he said cryptically.

She had to agree. It was much easier to see and she could easily hear the trackers following them.

After Genma made sure Ranma knew which direction to head he stopped. "Ranma?" Genma asked, his voice just above a whisper. He saw the dim shape nod. "I have business to attend to. I will catch up to you in a day or so."

"Huh?" she asked. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as the older martial artist just _disappeared_ in front of her. His glassy eyes were the last things she saw. "Er, okay. See ya later." She looked around and then trotted up the path.

How had he done that? He'd never shown that level of ability before! And, more importantly, how does she learn it?

-

"How is Lo Shwan?" Cologne asked, the shadows of the camp making strangers of old friends. To think that the mighty Joketzu would be reduced to vagabonds on the road.

"She will recover, though her body was taxed terribly. The strain of making such a perfect Dragons Rising Ascension Blast nearly killed her." The young woman just shook her head. As was the Joketzu way, the two other Elders would never be spoken of except by their closest family.

"Elder Cologne," an older woman called out as she walked up to the hurriedly created tent.

Cologne's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "I thought we had sent you to the accursed training ground? Not the fountain of eternal youth!"

The woman, who looked nearly fifty just smiled. Ra Tzura spoke, "This is the result of the pool of the drowned girl."

"You look half your age!" the wizened matriarch stated the obvious. "The pool never did that before."

"And I am far more powerful. I have never felt so strong!" Ra Tzura spoke grimly. "Something changed it. What, I do not know. But I believe the Jusenkyo Guide now. That really was just a boy with just a little power and his father. Well, now I have the same power. I will take three of our sisters and baptize them, to be reborn as the new power of northern China."

"This is foolishness, Ra Tzura! You do not know what the pool does! In truth, you may have let a demon into your body!"

The younger looking woman just rolled her eyes. "Cologne, I didn't just jump into with both feet. I tested the pool first, of course. There is no demonic influence that I could detect." A serous look came over her face. "How is young Shan Pu?"

"Not dead," Cologne said flatly, then smiled. "You need to teach your granddaughter the difference between very hurt and dead."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Ra Tzura said blandly, with a small innocent smile.

"She never did get over that little problem with seeing blood, did she?"

"Er, maybe. Perhaps I was a little lax in her training."

"Now, about this pool?" Cologne prodded.

"It takes getting used to. I can barely walk without bouncing!" She glanced slyly at the older woman. "And yes, I did intend to pick you to be part of the group that would hunt this impertinent boy down."

Cologne nodded her head in acceptance. She narrowed her eyes in thought. "You don't suppose this boy was just having trouble adjusting to the new body, do you?"

Ra Tzura just looked coldly at her. "It doesn't matter if he did or not. This is the worst blow in our entire history. Lo Shwan may have succeeded in getting most families to evacuate, but we still lost families to this... _boys_ rampage. He will die at my hands."

Cologne could only shiver at the tone. The local villages had always had a problem with the Joketzu's pride, saying that pride always led to their downfall. For her people's sake, she hoped not.

"Grandmother Cologne! Someone has broken into the vault!" a young warrior yelled as she ran up.

'Vault' Cologne snorted to herself. Just a wagon with extra guards. Three thousand years of history and they have to protect their secrets with a farmer's wagon. Even so, she zipped over there as quickly as possible. "What is missing?" she asked.

"Scrolls and tablets. Only one or two amulets are missing. And they are ones that depict martial exercises, too!" the guard said.

Cologne looked over the camp from the wagon. "No one saw the thief? Not one of you?" She had a vague sense of being watched, but too light to say for sure. She looked around carefully.

The guards all shook their heads. "We don't understand it at all. We were just opening the chests to double check and that's when I noticed the scrolls were missing."

"All of them?" the matriarch asked. That was an awful lot of scrolls.

The guards looked at each other sheepishly and then nodded. "They even stole the inventory list."

"What kind of idiot steals something like that and leaves the powerful items behind?" Cologne mused.

Ra Tzura interjected. "Someone who doesn't read our language, of course. The boy or his father, I warrant."

"Then it becomes even more important to track them down. Those secrets are our tribes life-blood. Who knows what horrors could be unleashed on humanity if they are used incautiously?"

-

Ranma hopped from rock to rock with her bare feet. She could get enough traction that way. Since she seemed to be able to move so much faster than before, she figured she'd use the time travelling up the mountain pass to train. It seemed to be working, albeit slowly. It had been over a day since she'd last seen her father, she hoped he could catch up.

She just grinned as she seemed to defy gravity for a second, running along the mountain wall before leaping across it to the other side.

Somebody yelled out and held up a bright lantern, trying to see the noise. The girl slapped to a stop, incredibly strong fingers holding her to the wall like a human spider. Now that she could see them, it appeared to be some sort of fortified guard house. The two men were slightly odd looking. Perhaps not quite... human.

One was huge and muscular, the other wiry and sleek. Both looked slightly animalistic.

Suddenly, one of them pointed up at where Ranma was. The lantern was tilted at the sheepish martial artist. The man with the pointed ears pointed and shouted again. Ranma dropped to the ground easily, trying to be inoffensive, hands clasped behind her back.

"Uh, hello?" she called out nervously. They didn't appear to be the same as those woman that had been trying to kill her earlier.

"What is a Japanese girl doing all the way out here?" one of the men asked. His ears almost looked cat-like, Ranma noted.

The much bigger man just shrugged. "Better than the Mongolians and the Russians." He turned back around to Ranma. "What are you doing here? You are invading the lands of the Musk!"

"Er, I'm fleeing for my life from a bunch of psycho women."

The men started laughing heartily. "Oh, that kiss of death thing! That's too good," the cat-eared man said.

"Kiss of death? What's that?" Those women were even crazier than she'd thought!

"Look, girl, we don't care and don't want to know about what those weaklings have done to you. Leave our lands before we kill you." He cracked his fists menacingly.

"Hey! All I need to do is travel this way! I won't even-"

The bear-like man just swung his fist to backhand her. Stupid foreigners- Huh? He pulled his throbbing hand back. "What the? Are you made of rock or something?"

"I don't want any-" Ranma tried to say. She had felt that a little bit, surprisingly.

"It's gotta be a trap, Thyme!" the cat-man said. He pulled out three knives for each hand and tossed them at the girl.

The ground cratered under Ranma as she dodged straight up, the knives missing by a proverbial mile. "Hey!" She gripped the side of the cliff.

"Kill her!" the big man shouted. "Rock Fist Fury!" His fist slammed into the side of the cliff-face, dislodging the girl up above him.

"Wha-wa-wa!" Ranma cried out, frantically waving her arms in a futile (and really unneeded) attempt to slow her fall.

"Blast Knives!" the cat-like man yelled as he threw glowing daggers at the falling girl.

Ranma _still_ managed to dodge all but one dagger. But that one dagger exploded with pyrotechnic force, launching her into the far cliff face. In moments, she was buried in tons of rubble caused by the other daggers.

"Ha! You got that Joketzu bitch, Oregano! They won't trick us!" the huge man called out to his smaller friend.

The rubble started to shift. "She's still alive?" Oregano said in surprise. The bear-like man shifted his stance.

The rubble suddenly exploded. "Now I'm mad!" Ranma yelled.

"I shall crush you!" Oregano yelled as he charged. Behind him, Thyme just smirked. The bear-man was a prodigy of strength.

The small girl caught his double-fisted-blow with her small hands with no effort. Oregano just blinked, as did Thyme.

"Sayonara, sucker!" the girl crowed as she booted him into the stratosphere. She was very careful to push more than kick him. She didn't want him dead, after all.

"Thyme! Damn you!" the smaller and much faster warrior of Musk shouted. He tossed the daggers at the girl, expecting her to dodge.

With a blur of hand motions, she plucked all of the daggers out of the air. With movement he couldn't even follow, Ranma hurled all of his daggers back at him. Instantly, Oregano was pinned to a boulder.

Ranma patted her hands together to knock any dust off. "Ha! That showed them!"

"Dragon's Tooth Crush!" a voice from up above called out.

The Japanese girl managed to look up in surprise just fast enough to get the blast right into her face. The ki attack slammed into her with explosive force. Smoke and dust rose from the crater.

"Wow! That is some technique!" Ranma exclaimed as she bounced to her feet. She appeared to be only a little bit scuffed.

"Stranger! You have invaded the Lands of the Musk. Leave or you will be killed," the handsome young man said. He stood at the top of a boulder. He was dressed only with a pair of loose pants.

"Lord Herb! It is our duty to protect you!" called out a man as he led a group of warriors down the path.

"Look, you idiots! All I wanted to do was to pass through your lands!" Ranma called out.

Herb just smirked. "I really do not care what you wish, girl. You have awoken a sleeping dragon, the dragon-heir of the Musk this evening. For that alone, I should crush you like a twig."

"Dragon-heir? Well, if those two idiots hadn't-"

The air crackled around Herb's fist. "I have the blood of dragon's flowing through my body, girl. Thyme and Oregano are loyal guards that I trust with my life. You are the trespasser, leave or die!"

"That sounds like a challenge! And Ranma Saotome never backs down from a challenge!" she shot right back.

"You would dare to challenge me, girl? Fine!" Herb hopped to the valley floor with no apparent effort. Energy crackled around his fist again. "Dragon Claw!" he shouted as he chopped at the girl with a sword-blade made of chi.

The men watching from the sidelines winced as the blow descended. For just a moment, Herb thought he had hit and cleaved the girl in two, but he realized that he'd only hit an afterimage.

SWAP! Herb spun through the air and slammed into a boulder. Groggily, he stood up.

"Too slow, Dragon-jerk." Ranma was standing in a slightly crouched position. She _had_ to learn how he did that!

-

The matriarch Razor looked over the injured bodies of the men in front of her. "Lord Herb, I greet you."

"What do you want?" Herb snapped. He looked a lot worse for wear.

"We seek two outsiders that we think traveled this way. They have attacked our tribe and stolen our treasures and secrets," Razor said with a vicious snarl.

"We have only seen one girl, and that was one too many. What sort of monster have you unleashed upon us, Joketzu?" Herb demanded. "She even managed to defeat me with her inhuman abilities, though she did retreat from my men when we pressed her." Although she didn't retreat because she was afraid, just that she didn't want to hurt his men more.

Behind Herb, Lime whispered to his smaller friend Mint, "I thought she left because she didn't want to beat us up anymore?"

Razor gulped but forced herself to smile. With her new abilities, she had thought she was sure to defeat Herb. But she was only one of three warriors who had fallen into the Pool of Immortality who was with the hunting party. She must tread carefully. "I am the matriarch Razor. I offer parley for information and trade. We seem to share an enemy."

Herb nodded. "Very well. I suggest that we join forces to eradicate this menace. You obviously know of this creature, that knowledge will be helpful in destroying it."

"She is a cursed creature that is drunk on her power and feeds on the misery that she leaves behind her. The village of Joketzu is no more and six families where murdered by her. We wish justice and revenge, so hunt her."

Chairs and a table were being brought forward, so they sat in conference in the middle of the war-torn valley. Herb had tea brought forward.

"What sort of demon of Jusenkyo is she?" the prince of the musk demanded to know. He thought he knew of all of the powerful curses from that place. Not even the might Dragon Pool existed anymore, lost to myth and lore. Only the Mixed Demon and Asura remained.

"We are investigating what happened, but it appears that a young man fell into the Pool of Drowned Girl. Strange magics befell her from the changed pool. The only thing that we can tell what happened is that something came from the heavens and knocked the Jusenkyo Guide out almost a year ago and messed with the magics of the pool." Razor said after she sipped her tea.

"The Pools hold terrible power, but nothing like this. I could easily destroy anyone that fell into the Pool of Drowned Goddess Asura. There must be more to it than that," Herb argued.

"I myself have tested these waters. Not only do I appear younger, but also my speed and power are increased by a considerable margin. Even the blades of our warriors can barely hurt me," Razor explained.

She sputtered in shock as she was suddenly transformed back into her aged form from Prince Herb's teacup. "Since you are willing to negotiate, then you would not mind leaving yourself without advantage, hmm?"

Razor licked her lips nervously. He reacted with cunning and speed to dispel any advantage. "Of course, Wise Herb."

-

"Stupid boy! I trained you better than that!" Genma said suddenly as he slapped the back of Ranma's head so hard it knocked her silly and sprawling.

Ranma shook his head and glared at her father who hadn't been there a moment before. "Why'd you go and do that for?"

"If I was one of those Amazons, you'd be dead! How careless my son is with the fate of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts! Oh, woe is me!" Tears streamed down from the stout man's eyes in a show of stoic despair.

"They can't turn themselves invisible, Old Man!" Ranma cried out. She held her stinging ear. "How do you do that, any ways?"

"It is part of the sealed schools of Saotome Forbidden Arts. I have unsealed them to allow our school to survive. Once we are far enough away from here, I shall train you hard, boy. Harder than you've ever dreamed of being trained." Genma's eyes looked as hard as steel behind his glinting glasses.

"Cool!" Ranma was very cheered up by that.

"What has those odd men in the valley behind us so riled up?" his father asked as he handed Ranma a rice ball.

Between munches, she replied, "Stupid idiots said they weren't going to let me past their valley. I had to fight a bunch of them. Just bruised 'em up a bit, but they got really angry about losing to a girl, I guess."

"We'll have to keep moving. You aren't quite ready for the Umisenken. The focus required for it is beyond you at this point, but we can start you on the simpler portions of the training shortly."

They traveled for most the day. Genma was really pushing himself, even with his wounds. They were high up in a mountain pass. Far, far below, they could see the accursed pools of Jusenkyo.

Ranma couldn't help but think of how dangerous it really was; how innocent it seemed under the setting sun. "So, what are we going to do next, Pop?"

"We're going back to Japan. After we rest here. We'll head east and to the coast."

Ranma leaned back and closed her eyes. She was feeling much better than she had just a day earlier. She felt so aware of her surroundings. She could even hear the large wings of birds flying overhead.

"Intruders! What are you doing on the mountain of the Phoenix People?" a male voice demanded from above.

Genma and Ranma started in surprise. The older man had been watching for trackers further down in the valley. They didn't seem willing to enter this valley. Now maybe they would discover why.

Above them on mountain-ledges stood three winged warriors. "I am Koruma, warrior of the Phoenix. You are trespassing on our land. Surrender or die!" their leader declared.

"I'm getting really sick and tired of you jerks being so anti-social!" Ranma yelled, her voice raised high in agitation. "What happened to some politeness and asking us to leave?"

"Ground-thing, we do not care to be polite to ugly, weak people. Surrender or die. That is your _only _choice." The half-bird, half-man looked totally serious as he pointed twin swords at the pair. His companions just smirked in agreement.

"I just think-" Ranma's father started to say, sweating slightly. If these were people that the Joketzu wouldn't come in after them, then he wasn't so sure he wanted to pick a fight with them.

"I'm gonna flatten you punks!" Ranma screamed as she crouched and then rocketed upwards. She lightly, for her anyways, tapped him in the stomach.

Koruma smashed into the wall, coughing blood. "Demoness! Your strength is inhuman!" He slid down the wall to a small ledge. He could barely crawl to his knees.

The pig-tailed martial artist gripped the cliff wall with one hand, ready to leap off as if she were a coiled spring. She just smirked at him.

Koruma took a moment as he coughed blood to palm a very special whistle. As soon as he finished spitting out the blood in his mouth, he blew the whistle. He hoped that Kiima realized that this was no drill, that he really did mean for her to show up in the full regalia of the Captain of the Phoenix Guard.

Genma sighed to himself. "Now _that_ he had coming." Before the other two guards of the Phoenix people could attack him, he faded away to invisibility.

-

Lime squinted up at the mountainside. "I think I see something."

His companion, though much smaller, tensed as if he were ready to make war in that moment. "Is it the Demoness?"

A fireball of immense proportions exploded on the mountain.

Herb narrowed his eyes as he looked up. "Joketzu, the Demoness fights the Phoenix God."

"Then she will be destroyed, and our alliance will be over almost before it is done." Razor stared up at the cliffs and steep mountain-faces. Another fireball blossomed on the mountain, going even further up. "She fights like one of the possessed."

"Phoenix will destroy him as he has destroyed all threats to his race since time began." Herb smiled nastily at that thought.

Razor just laughed suddenly at that. "The Phoenix was born during the great war that the Gods fought against the evil Moon Goddess, Serenity the Destroyer. He may be immortal now, but he was born of the Gods of that time to fight against the ravenous armies of the Moon."

Streaks of fire danced across the mountain. "The fight goes too long. Can this Demoness fight even the Phoenix to a defeat?"

A massive explosion nearly sheared the top of Mount Phoenix. The assembled warriors of the Joketzu and the Musk stared in awe. What power could do something like that? A meteor fell from the last explosion, bouncing down the mountainside.

Razor narrowed her eyes. "That must be the charred remains of our Demoness. Come let us make sure she can't rise against us again."

The two dozen greatest warriors of their tribes moved with a speed and surety that would beggar the minds of Olympic athletes over a rough mountainside in the darkness of the newly fallen night. And for them, it was truly nothing of great consequence that they could.

"Gods and Demons!" Razor swore in abject awe.

"It is Kiima, mightiest of the Phoenix Warriors. In her full battle armor! Armor that is said to have been crafted by the Gods and Goddesses to crush any mortal man!" Herb's voice now held a measure of fear. His mouth held the bitter tang of terror barely contained.

The comely, young seeming Matriarch kneeled over the fallen bird-woman. "Her pulse is weak, but I think we can save her."

-

Ranma stared over the morning's dawn. "So, Pop? Where are we going after we get back to Japan?" She narrowed her eyes as she realized that she could _stare_ into the sun. And see with her own eyes sunspots!

"Don't you worry about that, Boy. I've got everything planned." Genma just smiled at his son turned daughter.


	3. Ranma meets Rising Sun, Japan's Premeire...

Ranma Unleashed III

-

A fan fiction story revolving around the world of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures" and "Ranma 1/2." No infringement of ownership is meant. It is just for fun.

-

Soun stared at the giant panda that had suddenly invaded his home. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he noted that the only ones that really appeared to be scared were himself and Nabiki. Kasumi was calmly sipping tea while Akane looked ready to attempt to beat up the intruding creature with the dinner table.

The six and half foot tall panda was suddenly picked up set unceremoniously out of the way and dumped on the ground. "Quit that, Pop! You're scaring the hell out of them!" The high pitched voice seemed a little too high, but the figure was definitely young enough to be Saotome's son.

"You wouldn't be... Ranma Saotome, would you?" the master of the house asked, hope evident in his tone of voice.

The wet and bedraggled figure just hung her head. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about all this."

The long-haired man snatched her up in a bone-crushing hug. "I've been waiting to meet- you- ?" Soun squeezed a little harder, feeling something that shouldn't be able to be there on a young man. He backed up while holding his forefinger up. "Bu-bu-bu-"

Nabiki had regained a bit of her courage at this point. She had closed the distance a bit. "Daddy, Ranma is a girl." She poked the smaller girl's breast.

"But Saotome said he had a son!" Soun wailed.

With a tweak of her breast, Nabiki replied with, "Does this look like a boy?"

Soun had no response, as he seemed to be out of it at this point. The only young woman that hadn't said anything just calmly led him away with a small shake of her head.

"Nabiki! She's still a guest!" Akane had finally calmed down a bit. She hated to see anyone picked on, it seemed. "Hi, my name's Akane!"

"Um, hi." Ranma looked surprised at her friendliness.

"Would you like to be friends?"

The soaked girl just nodded shyly. A friend?

Akane pulled her outside and towards the dojo. Once they were inside, she asked, "You do martial arts, right?"

"Yeah." Ranma was looking at the area carefully.

"How about a friendly match? I promise not to hurt you!" She tightened her gi in preparation for the fight.

"I'd be impressed if you could even hurt me, actually." The red-head snorted with a bit of derision.

"Are you belittling my skills?" You could almost hear the anger seeping into her voice at the suggestion of slighting her abilities.

"No, but after smashing through solid rock and barely feeling it, I doubt you could top that." She had an infuriating smirk on her now.

"Then you won't have to dodge this, will you?"

Ranma quirked her head, smirk still profoundly evident. "Nope. You're right."

"Here I come!" Akane lashed out with a straight punch, but still holding back her strength considerably.

The other girl didn't dodge or even blink as the fist smacked into her cheek. Akane pulled her stinging fist back. "This time for real!" Her fist blasted out with enough power to powder cinder-blocks.

The red-haired girl was knocked off her feet, but her face only looked as if it had been slapped. Akane just looked at her fist incredulously. Then the pain of a broken finger made itself known to her. "Ow. And you aren't even hurt? How can that be?"

Ranma sat up. "Wow! It actually stings a little. That's some right-punch you have there."

"Quit making fun of me! How dare you-"

"No, that was really good! You hit almost as had as my old man!"

"But you aren't even hurt!" Now Akane was looking very confused.

"I'd be surprised if you could hurt my cursed form. The fact that you can make my cheek sting is great!" Ranma bounced to her feet in a blur.

"Huh? Cursed form?"

Noticing the total confusion that the other girl was giving her, Ranma piped up, "Oh, yeah! I fell in this stupid pool that turned me into a super-strong, super-tough, super-fast chick."

You could almost here the gears spinning in the youngest Tendo's head. "Turned into a girl?" Now that she thought about it, Ranma was kind of speaking like a-

"Yeah, I'm actually a guy! If you've got some hot water, I'll show you!" Ranma smiled brightly at her.

Akane just glared at him. "Why didn't you mention this when you first got here?"

"Well, er, I was kinda... embarrassed. How would you feel if you showed up to get engaged and you were a boy because it rained?"

She opened her mouth to retort, but then snapped it close with a click. She still seemed upset. "Hot water it is, then."

-

Akane ignored the pain of her toe from the kettle she dropped on it. She looked over the young man in front of her. "Ah..."

"Hi!" Ranma bowed. "I'm Ranma Saotome!"

"I'm Akane Tendo. Magic is real?" she blurted out.

The boy just shuddered. Just before he could reply, a voice interrupted.

"Akane? Could you tell Ami and father that I had to leave? My work called me in again. You'd think they just can't do without me at all!" It was the oldest girl, Kasumi. She was wearing a smart suit and skirt combination that made her look older than her nineteen years.

"I could cook!" her youngest sister exclaimed happily.

"Are you going to replace the microwave with your own money, too?" The older, longer-haired girl gave a stern look.

Undeterred, Akane replied, "But that was only once. And I've gotten better!'

Ranma just kept looking from one to the other. He didn't seem to be fully following this conversation.

Kasumi smiled brightly. "We'll practice this Saturday, okay? You can show me that recipe from school that you mastered and then we'll work on a more advanced recipe. But let Ami do the cooking, that's what she was hired for." She waved as she walked back towards the house.

"Not that great a cook, I take it? My old man can only cook rice and cabbage," Ranma tried to interject helpfully. "Well, and instant noodles."

"I'm a good cook!" she snapped back very angrily. She looked abashed a second later. "Sorry. But I'm a little sensitive about my cooking skills."

He shrugged in reply. "Why? Are you planning to be a chef?"

"Er, no. But I'd like to be a great cook like my older sister is!"

A new voice interjected, "But Akane, you don't have any talent for cooking. Kasumi does." Nabiki was now visible, leaning against the entrance to the kitchen.

"_You_ aren't much better, you know!" Akane snapped at her middle sibling.

"Yes, but I'm willing to admit that I can't cook. So, your dad can only cook rice and cabbage, too?" Nabiki asked the vaguely familiar boy standing there. She was positive that she hadn't seen him before though. "And where did Ranma go?" Oh, that's why. He looks just like a male Ranma.

Akane giggled. "Nabiki, this is Ranma Saotome. He has a little problem with cold water. It was cold water, right?"

"Er, yeah. Cold water turns me into a girl. Well, a girl that can bend iron bars like pretzels, but a girl." He blinked for a second. "Say, you don't think our dads learned to cook from the same place, do you? On their training trip under their master?"

"Could be. You're really that girl?" Brown eyes watched him suspiciously.

Ranma sighed. "Yeah. It really sucks."

-

"This is my son, Ranma." Genma was sitting on one side of the table, Ranma at his side.

"Hi!" he said with a quirky grin.

"These are my daughters Nabiki and Akane. My eldest daughter is away on important business, I suppose?" Soun asked as he looked at his two remaining daughters. They nodded. "Is this really the same person from before?" he asked as he looked at the obviously male Ranma.

"How best to explain?" Genma pontificated. He reached out suddenly, grabbed the unsuspecting boy and tossed him into the pond. "It happened on our training trip to that accursed grounds." The now-girl broke the surface of the koi-pond looking angry. "I had no idea the danger that lurked before us. The danger that falling into those pools would cause us."

"What was the idea of dragging me there? Those nutcases nearly killed us several times!" Ranma shouted from the water. "Getting us cursed was bad enough without people trying to murder us!"

"Ranma! Adversity will make you stronger! And once we unlock the secret of your cursed strength, the Anything Goes School will be unbeatable!" Lightning cracked in the background as Genma laughed maniacally.

Nabiki looked at the odd duo through lidded eyes. "Unbeatable? I doubt it?"

"How strong are you?" Akane asked doubtfully from we she sat next to her sister.

For a demonstration, Ranma picked up one of the boulders and balanced it with one finger. "Strong. Very strong."

The older sister dropped her cup as her father looked on in shock. "How is that possible!" she stuttered. "Are you some sort of alien?"

"Alien?" Ranma asked as she put the boulder back.

"You know, like Superman." Akane looked at her as if she were stupid.

"Who?" Ranma glared back at her.

Genma nodded to himself as if everything suddenly made sense. "That could explain it."

"Huh?" Now Ranma was very confused.

"That pool must be the Drowned Pool of Superman's Daughter!" Genma shouted as he stood up and pointed dramatically at the wet girl.

"I doubt that. Can she fly?" Nabiki asked through lidded eyes. She refilled her tea again as she had recovered her composure.

"Nah, I can only float a little bit-"

Nabiki spat out her tea in surprise. Her sister just looked on in awe.

"You can actually fly?" Akane asked. "Only the Kryptonians and the Ultra Agents can fly by themselves. Like Rising Sun!"

Ranma scratched her head looking very confused. "Rising Sun?"

"What rock have you been living under? Rising Sun is the premiere Japanese super-heroine. It was about a year ago that she received the top-secret American Ultra Agent enhancement process. Now she's one of the strongest people in the world." Akane was rattling off facts as if she had memorized them. "The US's normal enhancement process only makes you really tough, strong and fast!"

"Er, what?" Ranma was looking very, very confused.

Soun coughed suddenly. "Be that as it may, that is not the issue before us. Ranma? These are my two youngest daughters; Nabiki and Akane. Pick one to be your bride!"

Ranma froze as he came under the glare of two girls.

"Oh, he wants Akane. She has that problem with boys, after all. So Ranma would be perfect." Nabiki looked quite satisfied with this arrangement.

"What?" they both shouted in frustration. "Don't we get a choice?" Ranma said loudly while Akane screamed out, "I'm too young to get married!"

"Well, Saotome, they already sound like a couple?" Soun said while smiling loudly.

"Yes, indeed they do, Tendo!" Genma said.

Ranma seemed to be very tense until she finally sighed and plopped down. "It's not fair," she said quietly.

Nabiki and Akane both gaped at the sudden change in her manner. The elder daughter quirked an eyebrow, while the younger one looked confused.

Akane whispered angrily to the sometime girl, "Why are you giving up so easily? This is our future!"

The redhead snorted. "Like I gotta choice? Only one of me. Not even much a prize, you know. Besides, I can't beat him up. I might hurt him really bad. And I'm not going to have an... accident happen again. Never again."

The youngest Tendo wrinkled her nose suddenly. "You stink. Er, why don't you go clean up and change back. Then I'll clean up after you." She blushed from her embarrassment for the way she phrased that.

Ranma's stomach rumbled. "What about dinner?"

Nabiki just rolled her eyes. "It'll be an hour or so until Ami finishes dinner."

-

The light of dawn was filtering in through the open doors of the dojo, backlighting Genma ominously. "Are you ready, Boy?"

"I was born ready, Old Man!" Ranma replied cockily. With that, they threw themselves at each other to engage in mortal combat. They fought, as if men possessed, for over a half an hour. Grapples to punches to throws. Dodges and follow-ups, feints and cunning traps.

Finally, Genma managed to pin Ranma decisively. Once Ranma finally gave up, another ten minutes as his face went blue, they were going to start going over some exercises that they'd read up in the stolen Chinese techniques.

A pair of clapping people startled the two of them. They were not Asian, even if they were wearing training gi.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked, unthinkingly rude.

The two quickly glanced at each other, then back to the newest students of the dojo. The first bowed stiffly. "Daniel Bar."

The second, a young woman with short-cropped hair, answered as she bowed. "Miriam Benders."

"Ranma Saotome," the boy replied abashedly.

"Genma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts." Genma was looking at the two _very_ closely.

Ranma stared at them suddenly, as if scanning them with a sense that was not sight. Their presence, at rest was _different,_ was the only way that he could describe the feeling. They were trained soldiers, of that he was certain. But there was something off about their auras. Something very unusual indeed.

"Are you a new student and teacher?" Dan asked as he eyed the slightly scruffy duo. Their outfits looked very worn. "Sensei Tendo didn't mention that he had other students."

"Ranma is engaged to marry Akane, to join our houses and family martial arts into one. We study a similar style of Anything Goes." Genma was being very formal, which was quite unusual for him.

"Mister Bar!" Akane yelled as she charged over from the house. It looked like she had just woken up. She bowed hastily to the students. "Oh, hello Captain Miriam!"

Walking at a more leisurely pace into the dojo, Soun watched the ongoing proceedings. "Good morning. Genma, may I borrow your student?"

At Genma's nod, Ranma bounced forward. Soun sent out a fast punch at the young man, but only managed to hit his afterimage. With a slight smile, Soun went on the offensive as he tried to hit the elusive boy.

Akane gaped in astonishment. She could believe that people like Superman and the Ultra-agents could avoid her father like this, but Ranma wasn't in his cursed form. How good was he?

Dan and Miriam watched interestedly as Soun finally managed to trip him over a mat, forcing Ranma to start blocking.

Soun stopped. "I am very impressed Ranma. You have a very good foundation in Anything Goes."

"I'm the best!" Ranma managed to say before being clobbered from behind by Genma and landing flat on his back.

Akane was quite surprised; she had barely even _seen_ the old man move. It was like watching Dan doing one of his high-speed tricks. "Wow!"

"Ranma! You are not even ready for the next step of your training. I think you overestimate yourself if you think you are the best at this point in your life."

"That was a cheap shot, Old Man!" the boy yelled out as he rubbed his head.

"Breakfast!" Ami called from the house.

"Akane, you and Ranma can practice this afternoon. After school." Soun motioned them to go and get their breakfast.

The rest of their getting ready for school was normal and mundane. Nabiki pawned off Ranma to Akane, to show Ranma how to get to school. Ranma was just aware enough to avoid getting splashed a few times. He did wonder why she looked so sad when she looked down a side road.

Akane blinked first in surprise then anger. In front of her stood a huge hoard of boys with various items. They immediately charged her with various and sundry battle cries, proclaiming their love.

"Jerks! Idiots! What do you think you are doing?" she yelled as she started to pummel the boys down. She moved with power, speed and almost grace. They didn't stand a chance, but they did manage to muss her hair.

"Forsooth, those barbarians thought that they had a chance to defeat thee, my love. But only I have this chance, for it is mine destiny." An elegant young man was wearing the traditional Japanese dress robes; kimono and hakima. Over his shoulder, he lightly rested his wooden practice sword that he carried in his right hand. He stepped out from the shadows of a blooming cherry tree.

Ranma suddenly got a bad feeling. Maybe it was something to do with Nerima, he thought to himself.

"Tatewaki Kuno," Akane said with a sigh. "It must have been you that riled them back up to attack me. I've already proven that you guys can't defeat me. Why are you pestering me?" She looked like she was starting to get angry again. She caught the rose that was sent towards her, just as Kuno noted the boy standing next to her.

"Who art thou, who stands so closely to my rose? But wait, tis rudeness itself for me to not introduce myself. Tatewaki Kuno, invincible sword of Furinkan High." He pointed his bokken at Ranma threateningly.

"Invincible Sword? Since when?" a girl up on the second floor asked Nabiki. Akane's sister just shrugged.

Ranma just pointed for a moment to make sure he was the one being addressed. "Ranma Saotome. You've got a high opinion of yourself, don't you?"

"Not at all," Kuno said. Suddenly he seemed to become a bit angry. "Why do you stand so near my beloved?"

"Ranma is staying at my home for the time being. He's-"

"Under the same roof at my Akane? How dare you!" Kuno shouted as he charged, swinging his sword extremely fast in a downward swing.

Ranma ducked and rolled, just barely avoiding the cut. His face hardened in expression as he realized that Kuno was _far_ more dangerous than he'd expected. Behind him, Akane just blinked in amazement. That wasn't possible, was it?

The pig-tailed boy dropped his backpack as he dodged a follow-up attack. "I accept your challenge," he managed to get out between very fast jabs.

"Hmm. You test my new found prowess a bit, peasant. But I am done and this fight is over," the kendoist intoned with a bored smirk on his lips. No one, not even Ranma, even _saw_ his blow as his opponent was flung twenty feet. From the way he flew, it appeared he'd been struck in the head with a powerful attack.

"Ranma!" his new fiancée screamed. "How did you- When did you get so powerful?"

Tatewaki turned to her, leaving Ranma lying on the ground in ignominy. "For you, my love, I would do anything to prove myself worthy of your attentions. The fortunes of the Kuno family allowed me to – woof," his explanation was suddenly broken as two feet impacted his head to drive him into the ground.

Kuno arose without the slightest sign of worry or pain. "Ah, you are still up? Good! Then let the charade commence!"

Ranma narrowed his eyes. Kuno wasn't even slightly affected by having his head smashed into concrete hard enough to shatter it. He suddenly cupped his hands near his navel and then shouted, "Eagle Air Strike!" A bust of ki shot out at his surprised opponent.

With stunning force, Kuno was slammed into the side of the building and through it. Everyone in the yard blinked in surprise at the impossible seeming move.

"Do a Ki Fist next!" one of the boys yelled.

"No, Spinning Hover Kick!" another yelled.

"Heh, he didn't have much," Ranma smirked aloud.

"Ranma? Have you checked your head? You're bleeding!" Akane said as she walked up and touched his temple.

"Okay, he was better than I thought," he explained his thoughts. He winced as she touched the wound. "Don't worry about it, head wounds always bleed a lot."

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Kuno asked as he stepped back out the hole in the wall. "I will admit that you surprised me with that technique, but it was pitifully weak." His outfit was shredded, but he himself appeared to be unmarked in the slightest.

"Damn," Ranma and Akane echoed the other in unison. Ranma started to crouch to leap and dodge when Kuno just _moved_ faster than he had ever seen anyone move before.

To Akane, it looked like one of the ultra-agents had charged them, leaving behind a blur of images. She desperately tried to move out of the way, even as Ranma moved the other way.

The crowd blinked and just oohed and ahhed as they could only see three blurs. Kuno was barely visible, while Ranma was almost as fast. Akane was noticeably slower, but only if you had trained eyes. Concrete shattered from the swordsman's missed blows, carving out the earth in huge trenches. The battle, such as it was, lasted only three seconds before it collided with drinking fountains over three hundred feet from the start.

Some of the girls screamed in fright as the fountain exploded from the force of the attacks that hit it. Kuno appeared, nonchalant and composed. He flicked his bangs out of his eyes. "And that is that, my compatriots."

From the dust a voice suddenly spoke. "You coulda hurt Akane." As the dust and water settled, two figures appeared, one huddled over the slightly larger. "Akane," the new girl said as she shook the other carefully.

"Ranma?" she replied incoherently. She lapsed back into unconsciousness as she was set carefully down.

Blue eyes almost seemed to flash in anger under darkly crimson bangs that dripped with water and grime. "You... hurt... Akane... You Jerk!" Ranma yelled as she rocketed forward at her foe.

"Don't do it, you'll be killed," Nabiki screamed out. Kuno had become some sort of monster!

Kuno slashed again with his sword, catching the girl squarely with as burst of cutting wind. Something she totally ignored as she slammed into him with the force of a cannonball. It was Kuno's turn to fly through the air again to impact into the ground painfully again. His face bore a bruise that swelled as people watched.

"Not bad, Kuno. But not nearly good enough," the girl smirked. Her shirt-jacket seemed to be ripped and destroyed, but the wife-beater under it seemed fine. Not that the tight-fitting shirt, wet as it was, hid much of her feminine modesty that she seemed to be lacking.

"I fight on!" Kuno yelled as he popped to his feat suddenly. "I will not lose!" He started to move forward when a loud voice cut in.

"Please stop this violence!" Floating in the air was the white and crimson clad form of Rising Sun, the premiere super-heroine of Japan. Her head, as always, were covered by her full helmet.

Ranma and Kuno took in her appearance with quick sideways glances. They were still posed to attack each other in an instant.

"Please back away and offer no violence. I am a fully accredited officer of the law." Light gray combat boots touched the school yard pavement softly.

"Feh, this battle is not mine nor yours, girl. I sought battle with that cad Saotome." Kuno spat out.

"Why you! I'm gonna pound you into the ground!"

Rising Sun flicked in between then and clapped her hands together hard, with stunning force. Her hands impacted at super-sonic speeds with a shattering boom. "That is enough! You two have already hurt enough innocent bystanders!"

"Akane!" the bedraggled redhead murmured in remembrance. She super-speeded over to the figure lying on the ground and carefully cradled her head, looking at her intently. "She doesn't seem to have any broken bones."

The Japanese superheroine seemed to pause in indecision. "I shall summon an ambulance. Who started this fight?" Her faceless helm turned to look at the two figures.

"This guy egged on all these people to attack Akane. Not that they were a threat to her. And then he attacked us." Ranma glared at Kuno hotly.

"Indeed, these boorish peasants did think above themselves. Only I am worthy of the beautiful Akane Tendo's attentions." Kuno flicked his bangs back so that he could see better.

Kasumi, behind the helmet of Rising Sun, narrowed her eyes and then grinned to herself. "So you set these boys on her?"

"Nay, I merely mentioned that only a man that could defeat the fierce Akane would be worthy of her attentions. Even I myself had to travel to distant lands to improve myself sufficiently to truly prove my superiority." He looked quite smug at that.

"And where did you get that Kryptonian Enhancement? Those are a regulated technology of the United States and not easily obtained," she asked directly.

"I traveled through the United States, but my new trainer was based in Mexico, I believe. How I wish I could have avoided those accursed American isles!" Tears started streaming down his cheeks. "To be so humiliated by my father as we met in a restaurant in Honolulu!"

"And a psychiatric evaluation too," Rising Sun muttered to herself. Unfortunately, she was all too aware that Tatewaki Kuno would probably be charged with nothing more than reckless endangerment, if that.

Akane was just coming around as an ambulance trundled across the grass. "Ow. Did any get the number of that truck?"

"I think you got a concussion, Akane." Ranma looked into her eyes, noting that one pupil was slightly larger than the other.

She touched the side of her head carefully. "Probably. Oh, no! What about school?"

Rising Sun was talking to a police officer as she pointed out Ranma, Akane and Kuno. The officer then walked over to Kuno, but Ranma didn't listen in as she suddenly realized that she was supposed to be getting checked into school in an entirely different gender.

"I can't go to school like this!" She gestured at herself.

Akane giggled. "Yeah, I guess you will have to check in later."

"Unhand me! Do you know who I am? I am Tatewaki Kuno, scion of the noble house of Kuno. Rising Star of the Kendo Unlimited-"

"Look buddy, we just want to ask you some questions. Things got out of control here and we need to determine what went on." The police officer looked upset and frustrated.

Rising Sun walked over and held up her hand to catch Kuno's attention. "Kuno Tatewaki of clan Kuno. Do you know who I am?"

Kuno nodded slightly in reply. "Yes, Ma'am. You are the superhero known as Rising Sun."

She nodded at that. "I am a registered official of the law _and_ personally sworn to the Emperor of Japan to defend these lands. I would ask you to honor this Inspector Tanaka's request and answer his questions truthfully."

"Thank you, Rising Sun. I believe I can handle it from here." Tanaka bowed at his waist respectfully.

The superheroine gestured at Ranma and Akane. "I will get their side of this story. It looks like they might need a bit of medical assistance anyways."

-

Ranma, restored to his proper gender, walked home from the emergency room. It was only about ten blocks from the Tendo's house. He watched Akane very closely, as the doctor ordered.

"Wasn't she great?" Akane finally said, a bright smile on her face. She had new bandages on her face from her scrapes, while her arm was in a sling to immobilize it. Her previously injured broken finger was just another bandage in the mess.

"Rising Sun? I guess. It's very neat that she can fly and all. Gives me some ideas on what I'm doing wrong, anyways." Ranma pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"I wish I could fly like Rising Sun. You know she's totally bulletproof, don't you? Not that she has a lot of guns to deal with here in Japan, unlike the crooks in the United States that she helps Superman out with sometimes." The young girl winced as one of her many bruises let her know of its pain. As she opened her ground's gate, she suddenly realized something. "Oh, no! We aren't going to be able to spar today! Daddy will be furious at me for getting hurt."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "You don't just spar when you feel up to it. You have to practice even at your worst. That way you know your limitations in case you get messed up in a big fight."

"My father is so protective though. If he thinks I'm not up to it, he won't let me." Akane looked quite serious about the situation.

"So don't tell him. Sheesh."

And with that, they entered the house. At the table, they saw the eldest sister doing some paperwork.

Kasumi smiled at them. "You're home already? I was just doing some paperwork from the office." She casually stacked her forms and then slid them into her folder with unobtrusive speed. "I'll need to take them in, and then I can help make some lunch."

"Nonsense, Miss Kasumi. I am here to do the cooking, as you know," Ami said from the kitchen entrance. The compact, fit form of the cook ended the almost confrontation by entering the kitchen.

Ranma narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "She moves like a fighter."

Kasumi blinked in surprise for a second. Overly casually, she replied, "Oh, I think she took some self-defense classes in high school. Maybe a bit more than daddy forced Nabiki and I to take, but not much. I think."

The boy looked suddenly horrified. "You mean, you know martial arts and you gave it up?"

"Kasumi isn't a martial artist, dummy," Akane explained. "Daddy just wanted to make sure that all of us could defend ourselves at school from perverts."

"Perverts? Like Kuno and his gang?" Ranma asked, curious enough to let the dummy comment slide. "I don't think Kasumi or Nabiki have enough training to deal with someone like him."

"Well, more normal perverts. Kuno is pretty extreme. I had no idea he was so powerful."

Kasumi sipped her tea carefully and then set it down.. "I heard from some of the men at my work, that Tatewaki Kuno may have been illegally enhanced like the United States soldiers are."

"So he's a super-soldier?" Akane asked, aghast at the thought of fighting someone of _real _superhuman strength _and_ world class martial arts skills.

"I guess Kuno mentioned that he purchased some sort of super-training in Mexico."

"That's part of the United States, isn't it?" Ranma asked as he scratched his head.

"No. It borders the southern side of the US, but it isn't part of that country. Don't they teach geography in school these days?" Kasumi had to hide the urge to roll her eyes.

The boy shrugged. "Schooling is something I do when I get the chance, but the Art is everything."

Akane's eyes shined in happiness. "I know how you feel! I just wish Daddy would push me harder. He's still afraid to hurt me or something, I guess."

-

Click. "This is Ichiou Yukoiu for the Rising Sun Watch," the man on the TV announced.

"Oh, god. Not this show again," Nabiki said with a groan of dissatisfaction.

"What show?" Ranma said in between slurps.

With just a trace of tension, Kasumi replied while picking up her soup bowl, "It's a news TV show about Rising Sun. They have this mobile TV studio and helicopter even."

"In today's news, Rising Sun put down a disturbance of the peace at Furinkan High School. It appears that a student purchased an Ultra Man enhancement in some sort of misguided attempt at improving himself within the martial arts community," Ichiou continued. "Another story from Yuki Tamoichini. Yuki?"

A very young and pretty woman appeared on the screen. "This is the scene today, where Rising Sun's heroism shines so brightly. A suicide bomber attempted to release toxic fumes into a children's school. Thanks to Rising Sun's actions, not one child was harmed and class was back in session not an hour later." Behind the woman, students were cheering. "Back to your, Ichiou."

The program continued for another five minutes without any comment from the family around the dinner table. As an advertisement started up, Genma asked, "Are you up for a game of shogi, Soun?"

"Always!" his friend replied.

"Wow, she's sure busy," Ranma commented as the Rising Sun Watch came back on.

"Yes, she does a lot for the Japanese people," Akane replied with a glowing smile. "I just wish I could do half as much as she does. But I don't have super powers." She sighed.

Ranma blinked at that. "Right." But Ranma_ **did **_have super powers.

-

Later that evening, after Genma had fallen asleep, Ranma was still up and thinking. After a long sit-down, he finally crept from the room. Down to the kitchen he crept and he took out a cup and filled it with cold water. He stared at it for a moment, but finally upended it over his head. If he, now she, was going to be trying to do the most good, it would require the best abilities she now had.

She slid open the door to the outside. Glancing up to her room, she concentrated and saw that her father was still asleep. With a bound, she started to zip from rooftop to rooftop, looking for the normal petty crimes that abounded. A sudden snapping noise brought a smile to her face.

Just a moment later and she was looking down on some thugs that were breaking into the back of a store. "Uh hem!" she said, clearing her throat.

The two men looked around, then finally spotted her. "Who the hell are you?" the one with a crowbar asked in a hissing whisper.

"The Neighborhood Watch. Somehow, I don't think you just forgot your keys there." Ranma was grinning now.

"Nosy little brats shouldn't get involved." The second thug suddenly pulled a gun. "It might get you killed."

"Aren't guns hard to get in Japan? I admit, I've been out of the country for a while, but I didn't think it had become as bad as the United States," Ranma quipped while being totally unperturbed.

"It's a dangerous world, thanks to the Chinese and Russians, kid. You act like some sort of hot martial artist, kid, but martial arts versus guns just don't work," the thug yelled out.

"A little louder. I don't think the local cops heard you!" she replied cheerfully. "Oh, and you haven't seen my martial arts yet."

"Screw you, bitch." The thug calmly pulled the trigger four times, snapping off shots at her body. "Stupid, you didn't even try to dodge... them?" She wasn't falling. She was just standing on the building above them.

"Heh. Thought I was fast enough to catch bullets," Ranma quipped. She opened her hand and dropped the four deformed bullets.

"Oh, crap. She's like Rising Sun!" the first thug yelled.

Ranma suddenly dropped in front of them. "Nah. I can't fly yet!" Her fists lashed out, doubling over both of them. "But I bet I'm a much better fighter." Suddenly she started to look around. "Weird." She looked over the two gasping felons. Hefting them like they were small babes, she leaped over towards the nearest police station.

High above in the sky, Rising Sun watched on in interest. Normally, she would not have interfered with such a small crime so close to the dojo. If she were spotted too often near Nerima, it would eventually be learned that she lived there. But if Nerima suddenly sprouted a local super-heroine, she could '_drop in_' so to speak.

Back down on the ground, Ranma had found a nice police officer to take the two felons into custody. "Yeah, that guy tried to shoot me after I found them breaking and entering to Ukon's Jewelry Shop."

"We'll send someone over there to look over the break in. I'm sure we can get these guys behind bars for a while. At least for possession of a firearm," the policeman said.

"He didn't think it that special to have a gun," Ranma noted.

"Too true these days. The world's a changing place. What with all the super-heroes running around and China and Russia starting to make noises, it's not safe no more."

"We'll get you for this bitch. You just show your face in school somewhere and we'll find where you live!" one of the gasping thugs. "Then your mother, your father and your boyfriend will pay, even if you are Ultra Powered."

Ranma just looked at him through half-closed eyes. "Sure. You know soooo much about me." She gave a little wave and then bounded off into the distance.


	4. Enter the Lost Super Girl

Ranma Unleashed IV

-

A fan fiction story revolving around the world of "Lois Clark: The New Adventures" and "Ranma 1/2." No infringement of ownership is meant. It is just for fun.

-

Ranma walked along the fence casually, keeping an eye out on his new fiancée and the area. Just in case. He stretched his back under the uncomfortable and new uniform he was wearing. Ami, the Tendo housekeeper and cook, had provided them last night. It appeared the Tendo's were doing quite well and could easily afford new school uniforms when needed.

"Do you really have to do that" Akane asked from below him where she was walking on the sidewalk.

"Everything can be practice" he replied simply. "Uh, oh. Freakazoid at twelve o'clock." Ranma hopped down off the fence. It looked like Tatewaki Kuno was up for another fight. They walked in the gates to stand in front of him.

Kuno looked like he hadn't slept well, his lips turned down in a frown. In a strange turn of events, he was dressed in a school uniform. "You" he shouted, pointing his bokken at Ranma. "You did this to me"

Ranma just quirked an eyebrow. "What did _I_ do"

"Your manipulations are as evident as the sun shines this morning! It was through your actions that _I_, Tatewaki Kuno, have been banned from all sports here at Furinkan High! And the Board of Directors is even now _reviewing_ their policy for the Junior National Leagues" Tears were welling up in the corner of his eyes. "The injustice of it"

Ranma just looked at Akane in confusion. "I don't understand, actually."

"Ah! It's the Ultraman Ruling from the sports directorate. No Ultraman is allowed into competitive sports that are not specifically _for_ Ultramen. It just passed recently" Akane said with a smile. "Of course, here in Japan, there is no Ultraman league yet. I hear in the United States they have started an Ultra Leagues for baseball."

"And how is this my fault, anyhow" Ranma said with a tone of irritation. "I'm not the one that went to the US and got super powers"

"I-I _know_ that you must be involved somehow! You must have informed them" Kuno watched Ranma shake his head in negation. "You tricked me into getting the enhancement" Another shake of Ranma's head. Suddenly, Kuno seemed to smile as a thought occurred to him. "That's it! You are planning on using your sorcery to travel back in time and convince me to do it"

Forgetting to shake his head, Ranma suddenly snapped out"What? Are you nuts"

"Aha! I must stop you, somehow" Kuno seemed to be lost in deep thought suddenly.

Ranma looked over at Akane again. "Is he for real" She just nodded her head.

"But I am forbidden from meting justice upon thee on school grounds! What is a poor, benighted soul such as myself supposed to do" the older boy raved.

Ranma blinked at that. He had no idea whoever had forbidden Kuno from attacking him, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. With that he just ambled on by the upperclassman. Silently, he thanked whoever had done that for him.

-

At home, Kasumi suddenly sneezed. Luckily, she was able to control it and not blow her papers outside. "Hmm. Someone must be talking about me."

-

"So will you do it" asked the eager young man in kendo robes to Ranma during lunch.

"Um, no. I don't really do Kendo. I don't think I have time to devote to a club like that." The pig-tailed boy shrugged his shoulders.

"But we want to learn how to do all those flashy moves you used"

"I don't really know any flashy kendo Ki attacks" Ranma pointed out. "I'm mostly into unarmed attacks. I can use weapons, but they really aren't my thing."

"We're doomed then! We have no chance in our division without Kuno"

"Kuno can't compete, right? But that doesn't mean he can't coach. Get him to whip you guys into shape."

"I don't know. I guess."

-

Ranma and Akane walked into the house, slipping off their shoes. "We're home" they called out.

"Ranma! Akane! Come in here, if you don't mind" Kasumi called out.

They walked in and saw a group of people sitting in around the table. The older man in the American military uniform looked a bit uncomfortable kneeling down. Soun and Genma sat off to one side. The pretty blonde woman wore a lab coat and had a briefcase.

Ranma stared at her closely. She was giving him the same, strange feeling that Kuno and some of the dojo's new students from US. But he wasn't certain, as he could swear he almost felt something from Kasumi too. But that seemed muted or suppressed somehow.

"Ranma, this is Dr. Newtrich and General Winston. They are very interested in anything you can tell them about what how you become so strong. Our government wishes to know of this also and would appreciate that you cooperate." Kasumi smiled reassuringly. She pulled out a little recorder and turned it on.

"Miss Tendo, are you sure that your sister should be allowed here for such sensitive discussions" the general said bluntly.

"Akane is Ranma's betrothed. She is also a very mature young woman and will not talk of these things." Kasumi's smile seemed to end the discussion.

"Very well, Ranma. I understand you have some sort of curse" Lucille Newtrich asked skeptically.

"Yup"

"Would you demonstrate it" the blonde asked.

With a shrug, Ranma took a cup of water off the table and poured it over his, now her, head. "Not much to it. Cold water turns me into a girl. A _really_ strong girl, mind you."

The general and the scientist looked dumbfounded at the change. "That is... remarkable" Lucille finally said.

General Winston frowned. "What seem to be your abilities? Can you fly like Superman? Heat vision? X-ray vision? What does hurt you"

"Er, okay. Um, can't really fly. Just float a bit. Or skim over water if I run really fast. I think I might be close to a breakthrough there, after seeing Rising Sun yesterday. I can see stuff. I could see my pop's rib were broken after an accident. Not much seems to hurt me, other than..." Ranma paused uncertainly. Her hand clenched on her lap, quivering a bit. "Well, a Ki tornado almost killed me."

"A Ki tornado? Could you explain that more" Lucille asked as she started to scribble on a notepad.

"Just after I got my powers, we ran into a problem with village of really good warriors. I kicked a girl too hard, broke her jaw and knocked her over a few houses. The villagers thought I killed her and this old woman tried to defeat me. She used a technique called the _'Rising Dragon Ascension'_ attack. We, uh, have a scroll that describes it. It basically uses your foes own ki energy against them. So she basically hit me with my own power. The whole village was wiped out, I guess."

"Yes. Ranma landed miles away almost ten minutes later" Genma interjected.

"Ten minutes? That's a long time in the air! How high did you go" Lucille asked.

Ranma licked her lips nervously, her hand still clenched. "I could see stars." Her hand started to shake.

"Stars? This attack blasted you into _space_" the general asked in disbelief.

The girl nodded weakly. "I could see a blue and white curve beneath me with stars above it, before I lost consciousness. Next thing I remember, my Pop woke me up. He'd rescued me."

"So how did you get cursed" Lucille asked. She really had to get Ranma into a lab.

"Oh, I fell into a pool."

"You fell into a pool of _water_" she asked unbelievingly.

"Indeed! All of the pools turn you into animals or people if you fall into them. The guide there even mentioned several pools. The pool of drowned duck. Or a panda. Or even a saint." Genma smiled at his addition to the conversation.

General Winston suddenly frowned and pulled out a palm pilot. With Ranma's acute vision, she could see him writing in English, 'No pets on any military bases at all.' "Ranma, would you be willing to help us verify if you do have a Ultraman Enhancement"

"Um, what" she looked confused.

"Many of the abilities you describe are standard for our program. We could assist you in understanding your abilities. I am a specialist in this field. Probably the world's foremost expert, actually." Lucille Newtrich smiled reassuringly.

"Oh! I bet you did this to yourself, too! That's got to explain the weird feeling I get off of you" Ranma exclaimed to Lucille. She turned on her father. "Why didn't you mention that! It's been bugging me for the last couple of days"

"A teacher can only lead after the students understanding has..." Genma started to pontificate just before Ranma lightly (for her, any ways) bopped him on the head.

"Don't give me that line, Old Man! I almost got killed by Kuno because I didn't understand that he was enhanced" Ranma seemed quite upset.

The two American's seemed quite surprised and shocked by the actions of the young woman. They glanced over at Kasumi who seemed unperturbed by the actions.

"Ha! I only figured it out myself after meeting Dan Barr" Genma said with vigor. "Though I don't understand exactly why Kasumi would feel similar"

Akane and Soun looked over at her in shock. "You've been enhanced" Akane stuttered out.

Kasumi's calm façade nearly broke. "Oh, yes. That's what my cure required. The poison was quite fatal otherwise. I don't have a very high enhancement though" she lied with aplomb. "I'm not really supposed to mention it. Several allies of the United States might want to demand _equal_ treatment."

"Got ya! That explains that." Ranma seemed quite happy at solving the mystery.

Everyone but Kasumi missed the speculative glances from Lucille and the general at the oldest daughter.

"So, what do you say, Ranma? Will you come to my lab" Lucille asked with a reassuring smile.

"But what about school" Akane interjected. She was trying not to show an envious glare at Ranma or her sister.

"That is a good point. I suppose we can finagle a high-speed flight to the US late on Friday and get her, sorry, him back on Monday" General George Winston III stated as if it were a done deal. "Only missing one day shouldn't hurt your studies too much."

"Um, okay." Ranma wasn't quite sure what to say.

-

"Where is Furinkan High" a brash girl yelled out. She was wearing dusty clothes and a dirty headband.

Around him, several students from said school looked at each other in confusion. Finally, one of the boys points at the sign for the school right near its entrance only feet in front of the girl.

"Finally! Ranma Saotome! I will have my revenge" The girl charged directly towards the school.

"Wait! Oh, never mind. I guess you didn't want to hear that he's already left for the day" Diasuke said as he shrugged. He turned and walked off.

-

"Ready" Akane called out as she took a stance.

When Ranma didn't respond, she just waited a second. The pig-tailed boy was casually standing just a few feet away from her in no apparent combat stance. Finally, Akane charged, her bandaged fists flashing out at the target quickly and fiercely. A target that was as elusive as the wind, it seemed. Akane stepped back, eyes narrowing. How could he dodge all of those punches _without_ moving his feet at _all!_

"This time for real" she shouted. She started to do the same punches, but suddenly lashed out a kick at his knees. She blinked in astonishment as he hopped over her head in a blur. She was just starting to turn when she felt him tap the back of her neck.

"Gotcha" Ranma called out, even as he twisted to avoid the snap kick that tried to hit his stomach. "Whoa! Almost"

"Come on! Don't just dodge me" Akane complained.

"Why? It's good practice for both of us, after all" Ranma replied.

The paper-screen door opened, showing two girls in jeans and stylish t-shirts. "There you are, Akane! Hello, Ranma" the first girl said. Ranma remembered her name as Sayuri. Akane's other friend was Yuka.

"Hello" Akane smiled quite naturally, not realizing what an effect she was having on the boy next to her. "What brings you here today? You look like you have some news"

Yuka nodded. "That's right. Diasuke called and mentioned to me that some strange 'chick' showed up wanting to know where Ranma was. She seemed really mad."

Ranma suddenly paled. "She didn't look Chinese, did she"

"No, she was Japanese. He mentioned that specifically. But he didn't know where Ranma lived and didn't have your number to call. So he asked me to let you know" Sayuri replied. She suddenly turned on Akane. "So, Akane? When where you going to hang out with us again? You've been neglecting your poor friends for this hunky boy that's living with you"

Akane started to shake her head vigorously. "It's not like that! We just met"

"So what is it like then? You're all flushed" the other girls exclaimed with a squeal.

"I've been exercising"

"That's a likely story! So when are you getting married" Yuka then exclaimed.

Ranma and Akane shared a quick glance.

Akane bowed her head so she didn't have to meet anyone's gaze. "Not for a while. We just had our Omai."

The two girls' smiles faltered and then vanished only to reappear even larger than before. "Your _engaged?_" they squealed excitedly.

"He's a hunk! Definitely a Grade-A stud" Yuka gushed. "I'm really jealous"

"Yeah! You have to go steal the newest and cutest boy, didn't you" Sayuri said with mock severity.

"You guys" Akane face was beet red now, mirroring Ranma's own flushed face. "Quit picking on me"

"Sorry, Ranma! But we're canceling your practice to steal your sparring partner! This calls for good old fashioned gossip at the nearest ice cream parlor"

-

"Damn you, Ranma! I will have my revenge" shouted the strange girl very late in the evening. She had been traveling in these woods, looking for the school that she had vaguely heard Ranma talk about one time.

-

All of the students were walking to school the next morning as usual. As soon as they entered the grounds they all looked quizzically at the tent that was set up in a small copse of trees. Standing in front of it was a young woman with fists clenched tight in anger. Suddenly, her target appeared.

"Ranma Saotome! I've finally found you! Because of you, I've seen _hell!_" she shouted even as she trotted over to him.

The boy she had yelled at just looked confused. "I'm sorry, but do I know you"

Akane was trying to hide an ugly streak of jealousy at the other girl. "A _girlfriend_ of yours, Ranma" she said with clenched teeth.

"Nope. Never seen her in my life" He scratched his head in confusion while fiddling with his too tight uniform collar. She was giving off that same odd vibe. But that was impossible! Was everyone Ultra Enhanced?

"You took off from our man to man fight" the girl yelled.

"Isn't she a girl" Diasuke asked to Hiroshi from just behind Ranma.

"Huh" Ranma asked, side-tracked from his thoughts.

"When I finally arrived after the third day, you had already left! So I followed you all the way to China" she declared, holding up one fist.

"You? _Ryoga?_ You followed me all the way to the cursed pools of Jusenkyo and fell in the pool" Ranma stuttered.

"I didn't fall in! I was cursed by those old ghouls! They forced me to be their guinea pig! For that indignity alone, I am going to destroy you" faster than any eye could follow, she grabbed Ranma by the jaw and flung him at the school wall. The wall shattered on the impact of his body.

Girls (and a few boys) screamed in terror. In shock, they watched as Ranma scrambled to his feet. One of his arms didn't seem to work correctly!

"Shit! She is an Ultra" Ranma frantically thought of what he could do, as he was out-gunned and out powered.

Ryoga smirked as she walked towards Ranma and the shattered wall. Everyone else had backed away. Backed far away. Suddenly, the girl that had been at Ranma's side interposed herself. "Stop this! Why are you doing this" she yelled even as she held up her fists in preparation for a fight.

"Your boyfriend, huh? Well, I won't hurt you. Much." The girl suddenly zoomed towards her and then struck her breastbone with the palm of her hand, sending Akane flying into Ranma.

"You bastard! She hadn't done anything to deserve that" Ranma cradled the stunned girl in his one good arm.

"You don't understand, Ranma. I'm going to break you for everything you've done to me! Then I'm going to kill you"

Suddenly, yet another figure stood in her way. "Halt, beauteous but rustically dressed girl! You shall not hurt Akane Tendo while Tatewaki Kuno yet draws breath" The boy was wearing his uniform now, but his bokken was at the ready. With a sudden charge, he slashed down at the girl.

"You're no threat-urk" she was saying when the Bokken came done on her head with shattering force. The ground beneath her caved in, her feet were smashed inches into the concrete. Ryoga shook her head, only a little woozy. "That actually hurt! Who are you? Better yet, what are you"

"He's got super-strength, just like you" Ranma called out. He helped his fiancée to her feet, now that she'd recovered.

Ryoga and Kuno sized each other up. "I don't want to hurt you" they both said. Kuno made a gesture indicating that the lady should go first.

"I'm just here to kill Ranma"

"Oh. That's perfectly fine then. Just don't hurt the beauteous Akane Tendo at all, or you will face my wrath" Kuno took a step to the side and bowed.

"What a perfect gentleman" the faux-girl said with a sneer.

"Breaking Point" Ranma suddenly yelled, even as he jabbed a finger into the ground. It exploded towards his two foes, showering them with gravel and dust.

As the dust cleared, Ryoga realized that Ranma had taken the opportunity to flee over the rooftop. "Come back here" The Wandering Girl leaped after him. Mighty muscles easily allowing her to catch up in just a few bounds. "You can't get away, Ranma" She slapped him hard across the face, sending him flying through a window into an apartment.

"Shit" Ranma said as he rubbed his jaw. It didn't quite feel broken, but that was purely luck. Looking around the living room, he spotted a sink in the connected kitchenette. He ran over into the kitchen while slamming his injured shoulder into a wall then gabbing the faucet with his right arm. He rotated his left shoulder with a grimace of pain.

Ryoga landed lightly, spotting Ranma near the sink. With a smile, she removed a bandanna. Her hands suddenly blurred as she sent the bandanna whirling like some insane, over-sized shurikan, leaving Ranma holding the cut off handle to the hot water tap.

"Crap." Only one thing to do then. He had never pushed himself to move faster in his life as he twisted the cold water tap and sprayed himself. "Guess I have to make this an even fight the other way" she said as she brushed the water out of her eyes.

"You were cursed, too" Ryoga said in real surprise. Suddenly, if possible, she seemed even happier. "Good! I hate fighting weaklings" She charged at Ranma with a super-fast punch, only to miss the suddenly _much_ faster target. "What"

"Let's take this outside" Ranma cried out. When Ryoga next punched at her, she pivoted and then pulled the other enhanced girl towards herself even as she pivoted out of the way. Using the momentum, she continued the move to toss Ryoga far into the air with a snap-kick.

Hundreds of meters later, Ryoga impacted the earth in the center of a manicured lawn. "Ranma! How dare you try to lose me"

A figure blurred over the rooftops in incredible bounds. "Relax, doofus! I was just getting you somewhere we could fight without endangering too many people." A huge smile was across the redhead's face as she prepared to fight.

"So heroic, eh? That isn't how the real world works" Ryoga suddenly charged forward, even faster than before. But seemingly to no better effect, as Ranma dodged. She was incredibly fast. In moments, the two were mere blurs to the eyes of the few people in the park.

Ranma suddenly went on the offensive, lashing out with a powerful kick that nearly folded Ryoga in half even as she skidded across the ground for over a hundred feet.

"That kick! So powerful! How can you be so much stronger _and_ faster" the stunned girl said in surprise. "It's taken me almost three months to get as strong as this"

"I have no idea whatcha talking there, Ryoga. I fell into that pool and got my powers instantly." Ranma still had her fists up and ready.

"Well, so did I. Up to a degree! I was over three times stronger than I was, but I'm now almost twelve times as strong! And I can feel that I've merely started to tap into something amazing" Ryoga's eyes lit up with a maniacal gleam.

The red haired girl just smirked. She knew that without really forcing herself, that she was much, much stronger than that after the pool of sorrow. "Seems like you got a defective dunking, Ryoga. Too bad, I'm still better than you. And I always will be."

The girl in the road-worn clothes took a deep breath, focusing her spirit into the pit of her stomach. Her balance achieved, she rocketed forward to punch Ranma in the face with resounding force, sending her flying. Her speed and power had increased dramatically

Ranma had noticed her preparation, but hadn't quite been able to achieve her focus before Ryoga's attack landed. She smashed through three trees and uprooted a small shrine. Focused now, she offered a quick prayer to the shrine (.2 seconds) and then ran back to Ryoga. "You shouldn't have done that" she yelled out. "Now you made me mad"

Ryoga's blood ran cold. The girl's fist in front of her weren't quite blurs to her acuity, but she could tell instantly that she was faster by a significant margin. As fists started to hammer into her face and stomach, she realized that there was no way that she could deal with this. The power of those punches was immense!

"Chestnuts Roasting Over An Open Fire" Ranma yelled, even as her fists turned into blurs to Ryoga. After pummeling the girl into unconsciousness, she let her fall to the ground. Picking her up by the front of her shirt, Ranma dragged her to a pond and dunked her head a few times to wake her up.

"Pwffft! Quit that" Ryoga screamed. She grabbed the offending wrists and tried to twist them, only to fail.

"So are we done here"

"It will never be over until I kill you!' Ryoga shouted. The crowd off in the distance was shocked.

Ranma pulled back her fist. "So should I kill you now? So you can't kill me"

The girl blinked. It had never occurred to her that Ranma might react this way. After all, she was the wronged party. "What"

"You're threatening to kill me! It would be self defense"

Ryoga flinched as the red-head threw a punch super-fast at his face. A punch that never connected.

"But I'm better than you, Ryoga. I don't go around threatening to kill people because of a bread feud." Ranma dropped her to the ground ceremonially. "Grow up. You've been given immense power. And you are misusing it."

Ryoga just snarled impotently. How dare she! But a tiny shiver of fear had lodged in her heart. _Ranma could have killed her easily._

The red-haired ultra girl narrowed her eyes and then took a deep breath to focus herself. Her feet lifted off the ground. She just stared levelly at Ryoga as she started to levitate. In exhalation, she realized that she'd finally figured out the secret of flying. She turned and rocketed off into the distance.

"She can fly like Superman" a woman yelled out from the onlookers. "Is she a Kryptonian"

"And is she" said one guy fearfully as he pointed at the remaining girl.

-

Ranma swooped and soared. Unfettered from the ground, she just laughed to the air! This beat every other ability that the pool had granted her. Spotting Akane being bothered by Tatewaki again, she swooped in and snagged the surprised girl right out from in front of everyone faster than they could see.

Everyone blinked as Akane seemed to just vanish from in front of them with a wind. Even Tatewaki Kuno seemed uncertain as to what had happened.

"Wow! Akane knows how to disappear like a ninja" someone shouted.

"Nay! Tis obvious that she has been taken by the treacherous cur, Ranma Saotome! Just another sign of his infernal magics" Kuno ranted.

"I can fly, Akane! I can really fly" she yelled joyously to the shocked school girl in her arms.

"Wha? You can? How? I mean, did you just figure it out? What happened to that girl that was trying to kill you" Akane asked in surprise.

"Ah, I beat her up and then warned her off. I'm a lot stronger than she is, so it wasn't much of a fight." Ranma pulled up to head towards the nearest cloud.

"Ranma! We've still got school! The bell is going to ring any minute" she yelled in Ranma's ear, even as she grabbed onto her neck for dear life.

"Right" And with that, she dove, faster and faster! In a blur, they landed behind the school. "I need hot water somehow! I can't go to school like this" Ranma looked around frantically. Her x-ray vision finally spotted what she needed. "Come on" she cried as she ran while dragging Akane behind her.

In the teacher's lounge, the whirlwind known as Ranma appeared and grabbed a warming tea kettle and kept going, right up to the second floor. Akane was being dragged along like a doll by one arm!

With a splash of hot water, Ranma's proper gender was restored. He rotated his shoulder carefully. "Ryoga knocked my should out of its socket. I had to slam it back in, but it hurts like hell."

"We should probably get it looked at. Dr. Tofu is our family chiropractor. He's really good at that sort of thing." Akane smiled at the disheveled appearance. "Though I think you should avoid getting into any more fights. I think Ami will get upset at having to buy replacements every day."

Ranma tugged fitfully at the mud-stained and torn outfit. "Yeah. I'll keep that in mind."

Amazingly, they were the first ones in.

But Ranma and Akane still had to go stand out in the hall for getting involved with fighting on the school grounds.

"This isn't fair" Ranma complained.

Akane just giggled at that. It appeared that life would never be dull with her new fiancé.

-

"Lane! Kent! In my office, _NOW"_ Perry White yelled out. He left his door open as he sat back down behind his desk.

Clark closed the door behind Lois, a raised eyebrow. She shrugged back that she didn't know what was going on.

"What's going on, Chief? Another lead on Luthor that you want us to follow up on" Lois asked.

"Nah! I've got real news that I need you to check into." He threw down a news paper. "According to Lee Chang, our Asian News Specialist, this is a story about a new super heroine in Japan."

"That's a bit off the beaten path for two news reporters from Metroplis, Perry" Clark exclaimed.

"Just a bit. But you are our two best investigative reporters _and_ the two most familiar with Kryptonians" the editor stated.

"Kryptonians" Clark shared a worried look with his wife. "Why do you think this is some Kryptonian"

"She flew."

-

Luthor pursed his lips as he read his morning papers. The stack of newspapers around the world was being flipped through at super-speeds. He stopped and picked up a cell phone, one of the most expensive brands and models. A Lex Corp subsidiary, of course. "Gretchen, I need to talk to you. In person." He hung up without even letting her respond, looking through the rest of the newspapers until she walked up.

"Damn you, Lex. I was in the middle of a set of negotiations with the Ahrab royals." She looked very upset.

"This is more important."

She blinked at that. "What"

"The Tokyo Times is reporting that they have a new super-hero. One that can fly." Luthor smirked as that sunk in.

"Someone else is going around giving out ultra enhancements _greater_ than our own .35? That's really bad! That could destroy our entire operation if someone has cracked this before we can." The female scientist inwardly raged. No one could have cracked this before her! This was her dream!

"You're right. That little judge down in Mexico City is all of a sudden going to stop being able to keep us from both being extradited back to the US before _my_ lawyers can clear up those charges. I don't really relish being forced to go to the SLAB prison. I've heard that the government has figured out a way to keep a Kryptonian enhanced human there with little fuss."

"So what are we going to do" she asked. She did not want to be sent to prison any time soon.

"We're going to Tokyo, of course."


	5. Knight takes Queen!

Ranma Unleashed V

A fan fiction story revolving around the world of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures" and "Ranma 1/2." No infringement of ownership is meant. It is just for fun.

Late July, 2001 - Tokyo International Airport

"Flight 1138 from Metropolis is now debarking. Thank you for flying Japan Airlines!" the female voice sing-songed over the intercom.

Clark glared at the speaker. "I definitely don't like international flights like this," he said.

Lois rolled her eyes. "Well, we all can't be Superman and fly under our power!" she said pointedly while glancing over at the passenger next to her that was grabbing her luggage.

"Um, right. You don't think Mom is going to have a problem dealing with the twins, do you?" he asked.

"They said they'd be happy to deal with the Jane and Mary for a week or so. And we should be back by then." The winsome reporter smiled at her husband. "Besides, they raised you. I think they can handle their grandchildren for a while."

"Well, they are getting older. And those two are quite a handful at times," he replied.

"They're perfectly normal kids. I'm sure she'll have them in the play pen watching TV while she knits or whatever she's got as a project this year." Lois was finally able to grab her luggage. She made a show of heaving them, even though for her, they were almost weightless.

"So, any idea where we can find this mysterious flying girl?" Clark asked as he 'worked' to lift his own carry-on luggage.

"Nerima. That's one of the areas of the city to the northwest. Used to be its own city or town, but got swallowed up by the greater Tokyo metropolitan area." Lois led them off the airport and to customs so they could be processed. As soon as they finished there, they hailed a taxi to take them to the motel they were staying at in that area of town.

"I have no idea how Perry expects us to find one lone girl like that in a foreign city," he finally said as they emptied their luggage.

"Well, that's why he pay us the big bucks. We are his best team of reporters!" she said with a smirk on her face.

"So, Leonard, what information do you have on this mystery girl?" Lex Luthor asked as he exited a private airplane. He let himself be led towards an unobtrusive entrance that was not used by the public.

Gretchen followed Lex and Leonard quietly, her mind working overtime. She listened very attentively. Behind them were two of Lex's body guards from Mexico.

"She just arrived in the last week or so. She hasn't given anyone a name, real or _super-heroic_. She may be related to that Queen of Li-am thing that was in the news," the blond-haired man explained. "But if she can fly, dragging a panda from mainland China seems... odd."

"Put your ear to the ground with the poachers. Maybe she's been using her powers in such a manner. That might give us a lever to use her," Luthor commanded. "Most likely she could _not_ fly at that point."

"Another one like those GI Jane and Ultra Woman dames, eh?" he replied.

Luthor's eyes glinted dangerously. "Something like that."

"Well, it seems like this girl is active in just one of the local wards or boroughs of the city. Place named Nerima. No heavy industries to speak of, just homes and such out there. Overgrown bedroom community."

"Well, then that's where we'd better be off to, isn't it?" Lex said scathingly.

"Wait!" Gretchen suddenly said, looking off to the left. The wall was quite engrossing, it seemed. "There's some security on their way. Duck in here!" She popped open a locked door with snap of broken metal. They filed into the room quickly. She held the door closed.

Leonard blinked as he noted the broken doorframe, but was silent at Luthor's harsh glare.

"We will have the foreigner Lex Luthor soon. With him deported back to America to stand trial, my advancement in the government will be secure!" a man's voice said from the other side of the door.

"Yes, Mr. Hygien!" another voice replied.

Lex waited just a few minutes. "Leonard? Make sure he's sleeping with the fishes by this evening. Then find his boss and explain that I do not like being messed with."

"Yes, Boss!"

Ranma whistled as he walked home from the store. Ami had asked if he could get some extra groceries and he'd agreed with alacrity to be alone for a while. Up ahead he saw Akane's friend Yuka talking to a foreigner couple.

"My Engrish is good! Questions you ask?" Yuka said in a twitter.

"Yes, we're reporters-" the tall man said.

"Report? My Engrish report got B!" she enthused right back. She was obviously falling into the normal pastime of any semi-competent English speaker in Japan, practicing her English on some hapless Americans.

"Look, kiddo, we're looking for that flying girl from the papers," the woman suddenly said with an overtone of aggravation.

Yuka concentrated on the words. "Super Girl?"

"Yeah!" Lois Lane-Kent snapped out.

"Oh, she fought Kuno Tatewaki! Boom! Crash!" the schoolgirl continued. "Fountain still... groke? Smashed!"

Ranma just casually watched from a distance, minimizing his aura so that he was less obtrusive. Even from this distance, he was getting a bad feeling from both of the Americans. Nothing definite, but he felt it was better to keep his distance.

"Where was that?" Lois asked interestedly, even as her husband looked off in the distance toward the nearby school.

"Furinkan High School over there!" Yuka said, pointing in the direction of the school. "Furinkan strange, but fun!"

"Strange, miss? What do you mean?" Clark asked curiously.

"Weeeeridos and kooooks! And Saotome Ranma!" she squealed in abject adoration.

Lois sighed. "Saotome Ranma?" Probably just her latest infatuation.

"Ranma know martial arts-? Martial arts! Very, very good! Throw-?" Yuka looked stumped for a minute, then took an approximation of a martial arts stance, hands cupped in front of her. "_Eagle Air Strike!_" she yelled out in Japanese while pushing her cupped hands out. "Kuno go boom right through Furinkan wall! Like video games!"

Clark, in perfect Japanese, asked in shock, "He threw a martial arts attack that blasted some kid right through a wall?"

"Yeah! Kuno wasn't even really hurt! And then he came back out and all of them fought super-fast! It was like the latest high-budget martial arts flick!" Yuka exclaimed, forgetting her 'Engrish' for a moment.

"So this girl goes to school here?" Lois asked in passable Japanese.

"No, she just showed up and fought Kuno to a standstill!" the schoolgirl exclaimed.

"Kuno Tatewaki? That's the boy who was barred from athletic competitions because he bought an Ultra Enhancement, right?" Lois asked suddenly. The new of the super powered, even mundane sounding this like this, were always of interest to her and Clark.

"Yeah! Somehow he got the American Ultra Soldier power! He was amazing! I could barely see him! But the girl was even faster and stronger! And then Rising Sun showed up! At our school, can you imagine?"

"So I understand. You've had a very exciting week, I take it?" Clark asked as he scribbled a note on his notepad.

"Very!"

Ranma slipped off at that point. Those Americans seemed like they were going to be some trouble, he thought as he started to hop from roof to roof on his way back to the Tendo Dojo. He might have to do something to protect his 'secret' identity. Maybe a helmet or mask. That Ultrawoman wore a mask, so that might work.

Clark blinked in surprise as he saw a young man hopping across the rooftops on his way somewhere with some groceries. Something looked odd with his jumps, he thought. He wasn't damaging the roofs with his thirty-foot jumps. It was oddly a bit like that ninja he had fought years ago.

Lois said goodbye to Yuka and then turned to her distracted husband. "Seeing something interesting?"

"You remember that ninja that Superman fought?" Clark asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup!"

"What would you think of someone that may be even better at super-martial arts than that?"

Lois blinked at that. "Better? Didn't that guy cut Superman?"

"Well, I think that was a magic knife or something, but yeah."

"Then I'd say that could be a little dangerous," she replied cautiously.

Leonard glanced over at Lex's personal bully-boy that he had following him around right now. "So Ingrid didn't have any information about that girl being involved in anyone that sells poached animal parts, so that was a bust. I guess we have to find that girl the hard way."

Sancho just shrugged. "I'm just along to help out."

"Right. Well, I have some unpublished photos that some kid took at that high school she first appeared at," he said.

Sancho looked over at the photos as he was stuck in traffic for just a moment. "Who's the other girl there?"

"No one important," Leonard said.

"Hmm. Just thought that she might know about this super-chica." Sancho just shut up and drove. While not stupid, his forte was in hitting or shooting things.

"That is not a bad idea. Pull over here. This is the Kuno residence. That kid that is banned from the kendo leagues that bought an Ultra Enhancement. From the main offices, right?"

"Sorry, can't say," Sancho said levelly. His flat gaze made Leonard flinch.

The car pulled up in front of the gate and the two men walked up to it. The entered the grounds and walked up to the traditional Japanese mansion. A really short servant led them into a basement practice area, where Kuno was in meditation.

Leonard and Sancho shared a quick look. Plastered all over one wall were huge pictures of the girl they were interested in. "Kuno Tatewaki?" Leonard asked.

"Yes, foreigner. Why do you intrude yourself into my humble domicile?" the young man asked pompously.

"Nice looking girl there. Your girlfriend?" he asked casually.

"It is fore ordained that Tendo Akane and I be one!" he said loudly, pompously and yet somehow with dignity.

"Really? By the way, about that girl you fought..." Leonard asked softly.

"Yes?" Kuno put on airs of being bored.

"Lex Corp. would be interested in possibly paying for any information you might have about her. Say where she lived, how to get a hold of her. Who her friends are. That sort of thing. We might even be able to reimburse you for a significant amount of the fee you payed for your, um, training you underwent in our La Viva Mexico Facility."

"Hmm. She is truly a fiery haired goddess, fiercely protective. Unfortunately, I know nothing of this diva, though I, in truth, do wish to learn more myself." The young man's eyes were enrapt with some unseen vision of loveliness.

"She just showed up out of nowhere? I was hoping that she might at least know someone here," Leonard asked.

"Nay... Wait! She did know of my sweetheart, Tendo Akane! She spoke by name and later departed with her. So it is possible that she knows of my one, true love!"

Leonard and Sancho shared a quick look. "Thanks, Mr. Kuno. I'll talk to my boss about this deal."

It was finally Saturday and Ranma was going to be leaving in just a few hours for a military base where he would get flown to the United States. For some testing on his girl-side's super powers. But for now, Ranma and Akane were just walking home silently. An uncomfortable silence had grown between them.

Akane finally broke the quiet. "I wish I could go with you."

Ranma grimaced. "I don't. I'm not a big fan of doctors. Most of 'em are quacks."

She smiled wistfully at him. "But it's a grand adventure. I've never been further than the beach or the mountains on vacation. And you've been to China and you're going to the U.S."

"Adventure is way over rated," he explained. He was starting to get a bit jittery. Something was going to happen soon.

With a bang, fireworks suddenly launched into the air, grabbing everyone's attention as they rocketed off. Billowing smoke obscured the area for just a few seconds.

Ranma heard the sound of a van door being slid open, even as it screamed danger to him. He started to crouch when a man in an all black commando type outfit blurred through the smoke at them. The crackle of his tazer was covered by the cracks and pops of firecrackers. The martial artist was hardy and tough, but the jolt through the tazer was designed to stop large men, not slight young ones.

With no effort, the commando-garbed man tossed the two, stunned, young adults into the van with casual super-strength.

"Drive, Leonard. We got what we came for," Sancho said as he started to tie the two martial artists up with quick ties from the American Police. The high tech kevlar and plastic zipps could hold anyone but a heavily enhanced individual. It was used to keep military and ex-military rowdies under control.

"Thank you for the tea, Miss Tendo," Clark said politely. "Your hospitality is very endearing to us."

Lois just listened as Clark made small talk. This was the so-called 'secret' training facility that the special ops she had heard some rumors about? It didn't really seem that special. Everything was "clean", except for a single medical case up in one of the bed-rooms. It looked like it was the sort used to carry medical radioactive materials around. And quite worn, so was probably just a coincidence that it happened to have enough lead in it to block X-ray vision.

"You are more than welcome, Mr. Kent. I still don't see why you are so interested in my sister Akane though," Kasumi said politely.

"We're reporters, actually. Nothing official. We just want to ask her some questions about Tokyo's latest heroine," Lois interjected.

"And you think Akane knows her?" the eldest Tendo daughter asked thoughtfully. These reporters were right on target with their investigation. How to distract them from Ranma?

"I'm home!" Nabiki called out as she walked into the house and kicked off her shoes. "Oh, hey Sis! Hello!" she said as bowed to the strangers. "More people wanting training from Dad?"

Lois and Clark bowed right back without standing up. "No, were here to talk to Akane Tendo."

"Aren't they home already?" Nabiki asked, obviously surprised. "They left an hour ago."

Kasumi blinked. "An hour?" She checked her watch. "Ranma is going to miss his flight if he doesn't leave soon." She stood up. "I apologize, but I better go out looking for them." She walked out the door.

Clark frowned. "What do you think?" he asked his wife.

"I think something is up and we'd better go out and check ourselves. My reporter's sense is tingling," she replied with a grin.

They walked out of the house and scouted around for about ten minutes before spotting Kasumi talking to some kids.

"So someone set up a fireworks display here?" she asked the local boy.

Hiroshi nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty good. Much better than the science club normally does, really."

"Oh? The science club set it up?" she asked back as she went and rummaged around in the coffee cans.

"Naw, they said they were planning a stink bomb for tomorrow. Except for Fuchi. He's still going on about making a landmine. He's nuts though."

Diasuke piped up. "Yeah. He's always complaining about the restrictions on buying high explosives."

Lois and Clark walked up to Kasumi and the kids.

"I've got a cousin that's into fireworks, maybe I could help you with that?" Lois asked, holding out her hand.

"Ah. Of course." Kasumi seemed out of sorts. She handed over the device.

"Pretty melted," Lois noted. "I think that's a Mitsu-Lex trigger. You said some kids made this?" she asked Diasuke.

"Nope. No one's claimed they did it. Which is odd, as usually it's bragging rights to do something this big. There was so much smoke and flashes you couldn't even see ten feet in front of you!" Diasuke frowned as he thought about it. "Maybe it was a rival school. But it probably would have done something messy."

"Mitsu-Lex? That's a military company, isn't it?" Clark asked.

"Owned by one Lex Luthor in totality." Lois shared a look with Clark. Lex Luthor had his claws into this too? That was not a good sign.

Kasumi pulled out her pager. "Oh. Look at the time. I have to go."

"Work, of course." Lois turned to Clark. "That ties in with the rumors that some of Lex's bully boys were noising around-"

**_BOOOOOM!_** went something as it broke the sound barrier over Nerima.

"What the hell? Rising Sun never causes that big of a commotion!" Hiroshi said, looking around frantically.

-

"Control, link me to OZ. I have a critical situation," Rising Sun said as she flew faster than she'd ever tried before. Wisps of high energy plasma were covering her head and shoulders.

"Repeat that, Rising Sun. You are breaking up!" Jade Garden control said over the radio. Jade Garden was Japan's version of America's OZ Control. Housed deep under Tokyo in a nuclear proof bomb shelter, it was the most deep and covert military installation of the JSDF.

Rising Sun almost couldn't hear them over the interference. A sensor on her helmet was signaling a large increase in heat, even as she realized that the very air was burning out of her way. The plasma storm subsided subsided as he left the atmosphere.

"Repeat, Rising Sun, can you hear me?" Jade Garden called again.

"Yes, I can hear you. I need a link to OZ now. I believe two people have been kidnapped due to an Ultra situation."

"Roger that! You rattled a lot of windows in Nerima taking off like that. You even managed to break your speed record too. MACH 4.34 with that stunt in the atmosphere. Now you are leveling off at 800 gravities acceleration in outer space," the operator said. "Connecting you to OZ."

"This is OZ Control, Rising Sun. What is the situation?" a new, female voice called out.

"Rising Sun here. Get me General Winston. And tell him Dr. Newtrich's patient may have been kidnapped by Lex Luthor."

General Winston trotted into OZ Control in just moments. "That was exactly what she said?"

"Yes, sir." Rows of computers and screens filled OZ Control, where over a dozen men and woman worked around the clock on super-strength fast-reacting keyboards for all superhuman events in the world of the Ultra Military of today.

Winston pulled out his cell phone and hit a code then dialed a number. "GI Jane should be here shortly. This is a serious matter."

"GI Jane is en route from Ultra Test in Maryland. She'll be here in five minutes, sir."

"Put me on with Rising Sun now," the general ordered.

"One second, General. Rising Sun, you need to slow down. You are going to fast to reenter the atmosphere safely. I repeat, slow down for reentry," the radar operator called out loudly.

"Roger!" Rising Sun confirmed. She hated to slow down, but even as powerful as she was, she would not survive that.

-

"Captain Meyers! Thank you for allowing us on your ship in such a... quiet fashion," Lex Luthor said as he slid down the ladder into the nuclear submarine the _USS Salt Lake City. _"You are doing your country a great service, though one that is a bit on the gray side of legality." He turned around to help down the two comatose teenagers from Gretchen.

"Exactly why are you wanting to get these two kids out of Japan?" Meyers asked worriedly.

"I believe they are linked to critical information about the Ultra Soldier project. In fact, they may be our only contact with a Japanese national that we believe stole critical information about advancements that haven't even been made Ultra Top Secret," Luthor lied with aplomb. "While Japan may be our allies, if they have stolen our advancements for the next decade, America might become the backwater of the Ultra Enhancement Program. Especially if the rumors that they destroyed all of our copies are true."

"You're not kidding? Oh, crap." Meyers just gulped as he let that sink in. "Don't worry. We'll be under way to that Honolulu in just few minutes."

"I've arranged to be transferred in ten hours to my private ship. You will be able to keep the crew from catching on that I am here? Technically, I am a fugitive of the law-"

"Those trumped up charges won't be listened to here, sir. You have basically helped make sure the Navy is going to be here and not gutted over the military cuts." Meyers led them to an already cleared officer's bunk room. "I'll bring your meals myself."

"Of course. Thank you. By the way, Captain, how is Lisa these days?" Lex asked in an overly casual tone of voice.

"She's doing better after her latest chemotherapy. The doctor have high hopes that her Leukemia will finally go into remission."

"I just hope that the treatment that Luthor Medical Industries pioneered doesn't keep getting bogged down in paperwork. Too many other people need the help that your daughter is getting," Lex said with convincing sincerity.

"Yes. Of course." A haunted look crossed the Commander's eyes. "I'll handle everything on my end."

"Thank you very much, Commander," Luthor said with a smirk as the door closed. He turned to Gretchen. "Are they still out?"

"Like babies. They won't wake up until we are on the _The Retreat_. Then we can be back in Nueva Loredo just a day or so later," Gretchen said as soon a Meyer's was out of earshot. "You are such a creep."

"I'm going to live forever. I think my conscious can handle a few qualms."


	6. Escape!

Ranma Unleashed VI

-

A fan fiction story revolving around the world of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures" and "Ranma 1/2." No infringement of ownership is meant. It is just for fun.

30th, 2001. Unknown location

With a crack-snap, noxious smelling-salts were waved under the two Japanese young adults. "It is time to wake up and smell the roses," an obnoxiously smug voice said with almost no accent in Japanese. "Although you two seem to have picked up a fragrance of _some_ sort. Odeur de l'enlèvement, perhaps."

Ranma blinked and then looked around unsteadily. He was tied up to a very heavy metal chair with some sort of very strong cord. Fifteen feet in front of him was his new fiancée, similarly bound. "What?" They seemed to be in some sort of underground warehouse. The floor was concrete, but the walls were lined with some dull metal. A false ceiling and bright lights high above them illuminated the strange and arcane scientific equipment in the room in caged off areas.

"Ah, the boyfriend. Inconsequential." Lex Luthor walked over to Akane and tilted her head up with surprisingly strong fingers. "You, on the other hand, have something I want."

The young woman just glared at the criminal. "Who are you? Where are we? Release us at once!"

"You are in no position to demand anything. Quite the opposite, actually. No one knows where you are. No one, in this country, cares who you are. Your life hangs on the knife's edge, young lady," Lex said suavely, his voice steeped in danger.

"So what do you want then?" she spat out. "I'm just a school girl!"

"What I want, is the girl that can fly. Someone in the Orient is enhancing people with the power of Superman. I need to know who she is or whom she works for. Gretchen!" He gripped Akane's chin with painful intensity.

A youthful-looking woman in a lab coat exited one of the caged off areas from out of sight. She snagged a syringe and ampoule of clear liquid from a nearby counter. "Are you sure of this? There's only one way to cure this poison," Gretchen said a bit uncertainty. She quashed her uncertainty with sudden ruthlessness.

"It will give her incentive to remember all of the facts, now won't it?" the mastermind criminal said with a soft laugh. Behind him, Gretchen filled the syringe with three milliliters of the poison.

"I won't tell you anything!" Akane retorted hotly.

"Perhaps." Lex took the syringe. "This is a particularly nasty poison from your islands actually. Invariably lethal. The only cure is to have an instant superman enhancement. Anything less is futile." He grinned disarmingly at Akane. "Luckily, I happen to be someone that can grant this cure."

"Stop it! She doesn't know nothing!" Ranma yelled out. He tried to break the cords, but they seemed to be some sort of metal cable that was tougher than chains.

Lex stopped with the needle a mere inch away her skin. "Oh, and you do?"

"I _might_!" Ranma snapped back with a murderous glare.

"Might? You know the young lady in question? How to contact her? How to bring her here?"

"Ranma! Don't say anything!" Akane shouted.

"Yeah. I guess you could say I'm pretty close to her," he replied with a smirk.

Something about that phrase churned anger deep within Lex Luthor. The haughty smirk angered him almost beyond reason from this _boy_ in front of him. "Gretchen, bring him to the Enhancer." Casually holding the syringe in one hand and Akane (chair and all) in the other, he walked into one of the caged off areas and set Akane on a yellow 'X'.

Gretchen picked up Ranma just as easily and set his chair down to the side, next to a long bench with chemicals and electronic components. "You- you are enhanced like the American Ultrasoldiers?" Ranma sputtered in surprise.

"That limited thing? No, I aspire to Superman's full power, thank you. And soon, with your help, I will have it. This device is the keystone of that ability, is it not, my dear Gretchen?" Lex said as he waved his free hand at the large electrical device connected to many power capacitors.

"Yes, indeed! Once I have perfected it, we will rule the world!" the scientist said with a cruel smile.

Luthor just nodded with a perfect poker face. "I will let you in on a secret. Ranma, wasn't it? This device does not give Superman's power. It merely transfers a copy of the power from one person to another. Gretchen managed to copy some of Superman's power from an insipid fool known as Resplendent Man. From there, it eventually ended up here in myself." Lex stepped on a small 'X' painted black on the ground. "This girl that can fly will be forced to stand here and have her power stolen into myself here to save poor Akane's life from this insidious poison."

Gretchen walked over to a control panel. "It only needs to go to 10 of Superman's power to cure that poison, but I will just turn it up like so that we take all of her power into Lex or myself."

"But you don't need to poison her if I tell you everything, right?" Ranma shouted in sudden worry.

Akane looked very pale as Luthor sauntered over to her. "Of course. But I'm sure you will be much more truthful after I inject this neural poison into her." Without further preamble, he jabbed the needle into her neck and pushed the injector. "Now she has roughly four hours to live."

Gretchen winced but did nothing more. She knew where her loyalties lay.

"Akane!" her fiancé shouted. "You bastard! I would have told you without doing that!"

"It's just insurance. Depending on what you say will determine if I save her. Who is that girl?" he demanded.

He was going to kill them afterwards, Ranma suddenly realized. Unless he managed to stall and get them free while not letting him know that 'she' was actually Ranma. "She's nobody important. Just a... kid that traveled around China."

"So the Chinese are working on enhancement technology?" Gretchen asked curiously. "I was not aware that they had succeeded with any research like that."

"Uh, I don't think so. She was a martial artist and was training in secret and dangerous martial arts. She had been dragged to a place called Jusenkyo. A place of cursed pools. There she fell into a pool that granted her these powers," Ranma continued to explain.

"She fell in a magical pool that granted her Superman's powers?" Lex asked incredulously. It was obvious he had a problem believing any of what he was hearing.

"I've seen magic myself. It's real. Why couldn't magic duplicate Superman's powers?" the Japanese kid replied belligerently.

"It's useless to me. Unless you know where this _'pool'_ is?" Lex demanded as he walked over and grabbed Ranma's chin roughly.

Ranma looked over at Akane who was visibly weakening, her head hanging loosely. "I just know the name. China's a huge place, after all." A half-truth, as he didn't know _exactly_ where it was.

Lex started to grip harder, but was suddenly interrupted by a beeping at his waist. He checked a pager. "Ah. Saved by the bell. We will be back in an hour, Ranma. I suggest you decide which is more important. Your ridiculous story or her life."

Gretchen followed Lex towards a door over a hundred feet away. "Are we safe leaving them there?"

"Quite. They are in a veritable fortress teaming with our enhanced guards. I doubt they can even move those chairs they are bound too. And with the machine that can cure her poison looming over them, he will crack within an hour. Enough time to deal with the Saudi royalty and their pending deal with us."

"Akane?" Ranma called out.

"Ranma? I don't feel good." Akane's voice was very slurred already.

"Hold on. I'm going to try and get free." He took a deep breath and strained at the cords, trying to break them. Much tougher than chains, he found out to his dismay. He looked around frantically. There had to be something that he could use to get free. No knives or cutters appeared to be handy.

His eyes lit on a faucet half-hidden behind some beakers. "Water!" He tried rocking the very heavy chair. Finally, he got it tipped forward. Bare toes touched the ground and allowed him to slowly tiptoe towards the counter and the sink. He almost overbalanced twice because of the heavy metal chair and his being bound hand, foot and torso to the solid chair.

Only to find that he was inches short of his goal of pulling the large handle and filling the sink with water. Thinking furiously, he turned his head suddenly and flipped his pigtail around to catch the lever and pull. Cold water started to fill the sink. With a deep breath, he stuck his head under the water and with an eye-watering shimmer, shifted forms.

With a clatter, Ranma crashed to the ground as her new form unbalanced her. She wiggled her hands, realizing that she could just slip loose of her bonds. With a grin, she wriggled free of the cables. She'd leave them there for them to try and figure out how 'he' had managed to escape.

"Akane?" Ranma asked, lifting her head. She looked very pale. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get you free."

"Poison?" she asked weakly.

That stopped Ranma. What was he going to do? Her eyes drifted towards the large machine. "I'm going to use his machine to cure you, okay?"

Akane nodded limply. Looking over the controls, Ranma found the one that Gretchen had adjusted for different power levels. He dialed it back a bit. Suddenly she bit her lip. How far had that been? Better to be safe than sorry. She moved it back up a bit until she was sure it was past the point that would cure Akane. With a quick scan, she found the start button and it started counting down. She blurred over to the little black 'X' and stood tensely.

The machine made a small popping noise and a very small jolt of electricity arced to her, but not past her and into Akane only three feet away. "Dammit!" There was no way that was a large enough burst of energy. She'd seen enough movies to know that much!

"Idiot... Power switch..." Akane mumbled while nodding her head towards a large power switch on the fence for this caged off area.

"Hey! Who's an idiot?" she snapped back. Instantly she felt bad, as Akane didn't even retort. Ranma grabbed the switch and pulled it. Instantly massive generators roared to life. "Uh oh."

-

"And at five million dollars apiece, American, each of your family can be endowed with the power of Superman. Or at least part of his power. No longer will his amazing abilities be controlled by strictly the United States Government," Luthor said as he felt out the tricky negotiation.

The man that he knew only as Abdul frowned. "You are an American, Lex Luthor. Surely you care for your country?"

"I've been a man of the world for quite a while. As a matter of fact, I have-" Lex was interrupted by a loud rumbling noise from below his feet. "What?"

"Is it an earthquake?" the Saudi Arabian asked worriedly.

"No! It's an intruder!" the criminal shouted, his face suddenly showing his anger. Somehow, that girl had shown up and was attempting to save his hostage. He should have just killed them both. In a blur of super-speed he left the Arab sitting in his office and headed down the stairs just in front of his security. In a fit of anger, he kicked the thick steel door off its hinges.

In the caged off area a figure could be seen cradling another figure. Blue eyes snapped up to stare at the approaching criminal and his thugs.

"Let go!" Akane finally said angrily, pushing herself free of Ranma's grip. She was startled by her strength as she sent the other girl sprawling over thirty feet away.

"Ah, good. You transferred you powers into this girl and she hasn't had the proper training to use her new abilities. Once we've captured you both, you'll become living batteries," Lex said with a gloating look on his face. "Your boyfriend couldn't have gotten far, I'm sure."

"Only problem with that, is that I've still got some of my power!" Ranma shouted as she cartwheeled to her feet. Her loose boy's school uniform was unrecognizable, as the electrical charge had burned the shirt and slacks quite badly. Her hair was loose and very frizzy from the shock she'd just endured. Only ragged strips of cloth covered her boxers and white tank top.

Luthor looked at the settings on the machine, noting that it was just above what was required to 'cure' the poisoning. "Perhaps. But with my men and weapons, you don't have a chance to escape! No chance at all!"

For emphasis, the thugs chambered rounds in their AK-47s. Each of them aimed at the strange, red-haired girl.

Who just grinned back at them savagely! She slowly pivoted to the side, cupping her hands next to her stomach.

"Are you a fool and an idiot?" Lex demanded from behind his armed men. He suddenly had a prickling of worry. She seemed so confident. So self sure.

He'd seen that expression on television far too often, on himself.

"EAGLE... AIR... STRIKE!" Ranma yelled out as she sent a blazing ball of ki shooting towards the gunmen. It seemed to explode when it hit the first man sending him flying over the frantically dodging Lex Luthor and sending his other men scattering.

Akane blinked, then smiled. She realized that she was feeling much, much better. She stood up just as one of the men skidded under her skirt. "What?" she asked, then realized he could see _under her skirt._ "PERVERT!"

Lex and his men looked up at the sudden distraction, startled to see Akane kick the hapless thug through a concrete wall. Thinking quickly, Lex yelled out in Japanese, "Don't let them escape up those stairs!"

In a blink of their eyes, Ranma had snatched up Akane and ran for the said stairs as fast as she could go. Stinging bullets managed to find her form, but were unable to affect her.

They went up the three flights of stairs in just a few seconds, to end up in a palatial office area. An Arab blinked in astonishment as the 'intruders' zipped past him towards the front doors and into the evening outside in Nueva Laredo.

-

July 28th, 2001. Nerima-ku, Japan.

"This is a very nice house," Lois commented as they opened the gates back to the walled compound. A large two story house sat in front of them across a well tended yard.

Clark strode up to the house quickly and pushed the doorbell. In just a moment, the last daughter of the household opened the door. An expensive MP3 player was clipped to her belt and she turned it down casually. "Oh, your back! Come in."

"Thanks." Clark shared a quick glance with Lois. "I'm afraid we might have discovered that something has happened to your sister."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "She didn't get challenged again, did she?"

"Um, no-"

"It wasn't that temple up on Nijou asking for help again was it? I swear that they let loose more ghosts than they exorcise," she continued blithely.

Lois crinkled her forehead. That sounded interesting, but that wasn't why there were here. "Actually, that isn't it either."

"Ninjas kidnap her again?" she asked with a drawl.

"Um, close. Actually, we think a criminal mastermind kidnapped her," Lois said.

"Really? That's new," Nabiki mused. "Why?"

"We think it has to do with a super powered young woman that appeared at her high school. Witnesses stated that they seemed to know each other. Unfortunately, Lex Luthor has a very big interest in acquiring super powers like that girl had." Clark shuffled uncomfortably. "He may have felt that because it was in Japan, that he was more likely to succeed at kidnapping her."

"I can't believe it! That's crazy even by Nerima's standards. I can't believe that jerk is bringing even more trouble into the house!" the young woman said, fuming angrily.

"Brought this trouble?" Lois prodded.

"Ranma Saotome! Akane's betrothed! He's..." Nabiki suddenly stopped. Should she tell them about the curse? Kasumi had asked her not to, for some reason. "I _think_ he knows that girl."

"Well, it looks like he's been kidnapped too."

-

July 28th, 2001. OZ - US Military Headquarters for superhuman affair.

Rising Sun stood in General Worthington's office. "Has there been any word on Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo?"

"Not at this time. Why are you so certain that Lex Luthor was involved? You keep insisting that, but you haven't stated why," the general asked curiously.

"I have some information that makes me believe Lex Luthor may have been behind their kidnapping. The incendiary device that was used to cover their disappearance was produced by a Luthor company in Japan."

"So why aren't you searching Tokyo for their kidnappers?" he asked.

Kasumi opened her mouth under her helmet then paused. She thought for a moment. It had been sheer instinct that had brought her to the United States. "I... am not sure. I don't feel that they were in Tokyo any more. Somehow, I just know that they were not in Tokyo or even Japan."

General Worthington III nodded. He hit an intercom on his desk. "Mrs. Newtrich, if you could come into my office. I need some advice." He leaned back in his plush leather desk chair, looking over the young woman clad in her countries white and red colors. That helmet concealed her entire face and muffled her voice. He didn't believe the story that the President had bandied around. He had access to the classified information of Ultramen capabilities. No scarring would withstand their regenerative ability. If they weren't killed, they _would_ recover. "Ah, Lucille. Thank you for coming."

"General. Rising Sun. What can I help you with?" Lucille Newtrich asked as she sat down.

"Rising Sun believes that the two Japanese kids that are missing were kidnapped and shanghaied out of Japan. She doesn't have any proof, other than her feelings."

Lucy narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "Not absurd, of course. The Neo Kryptonians were believed to have full telepathic abilities. But generally only with fully empowered people of their race. The Presidential Enhancement _might_ be potent enough for mild empathetic ability. Perhaps to someone they know closely or are related to." The reformed criminal almost winced at the unseen glare under the helmet at that comment.

Thinking carefully and clearly, she responded by totally ignoring what she was implying, "So, operating under the idea that they were removed from Tokyo over a day ago, where would Luthor take them?" The Presidential Ultramen and the military ultra program were rivals to a degree. Dan Barr had mentioned that General Worthington had requested all of the information on the Presidential Package and how it worked, but had been stymied. They had barely told herself how it was possible, but only after all of the training she'd undergone _and_ so she didn't accidentally enhance anyone. Her secret identity could be just the start of trying to worm other information from her.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Well, knowing Luthor, he's probably taken them to his base in Mexico."

"Luthor International's Headquarters in Neuvo Laredo?" Rising Sun winced.

The United States, Superman and Ultrawoman had all been trying to nail Luthor for his criminal acts in Metropolis and from his suspected backing for replacing the President with a flawed clone. Which led Luthor to flee to Mexico and his national base there. Throwing up legal roadblocks to being extradited and expanding the base into his world headquarters of his financial empire were just a few of the things that had happened.

Unfortunately, Mexican authorities had been very receptive to bribes and to assisting him, for the proper kickbacks and financial increases to the Mexican economy.

"Correct. And according to our sources, Luthor has been there the entire time." Lucy turned back to General Worthington. "It looks like he has another double covering him again."

-

July 30th, 2001. Neuvo Laredo.

Lois lowered the baseball cap to keep the sun off of her delicate looking nose. Off in the distance, she could smell the Rio Grandé. She looked over at her husband as he doffed his own disguise. Their loose clothes would let them fit in anywhere rural. As a matter of fact, it was some of his old working clothes from the Kent farm.

She looked out over the river to the east. The farms beyond it looked normal to her, but that was probably just the _city-girl_ part of her not being able to tell one type of farm from another. "Ready partner?" she asked Clark.

He nodded as he slipped on his clip-on sunglasses to his frames. "I'm glad we could convince Perry to let us take a detour on the way back to Metropolis." He raised his hand to shade his eyesight unnecessarily. Telepathically, he asked her, _'Do you see Rising Sun floating up in the air?'_

_'Yes. Scrupulously staying on the United States' side of the border too. But it will be a nice alibi if she were to be able to come and rescue us instead of Superman or Ultra Woman, wouldn't it?' _she telepathed back to him.

"Well, let's get on our way then." Clark opened the driver side door of their rented Ford. As always, Lois had to be the one in charge of driving. They drove for about twenty minutes before ending up in the parking lot of a very disreputable bar.

Their meeting with their contact at Luthor International was not as fruitful as they'd hoped. About the only interesting thing they'd discovered so far had been Building Seven. Supposedly this was the heart of Luthor's new enhancement facility. Nestled on the west side of the complex, it had the same security that made breaking into any of Luthor's buildings impossible. Motion sensors, cameras and double-locked doors like airlocks. Even super speed couldn't allow them passage.

Exactly like Luthor wanted. As a military contractor for the Mexican government and their military, it was unobtrusively shielded by lead panels. Purely against the 'new Kryptonian menace' and not Superman and his ilk.

Clark shaded his eyes and zoomed in on nearest doorway from the car as they drove by on the nearest road. He wasn't sure what Luthor actually planned to do with the young woman from Japan, but it was probably nefarious. And deadly to the kids that were embroiled in his insane plans. It seemed not even death could keep Luthor down. If only they knew where they were. If only they could escape out that _particular_ door-

**_CRASH!_** The door splintered outwards as a red-haired young lady caromed through it and came out with a skid. She was carrying the other girl. With hardly any pause, she charged the fence. Low concrete boxes suddenly sprouted robotic machine guns that tracked the fleeing targets with precision.

Lois suddenly revved the car and spun a u-turn even as the red head made an impossible seeming ninety-degree turn to dodge the heavy gunfire. In two quick bounds, she leaped the fence to land on the road.

Ranma almost turned away from the brown Ford Tauris as it skidded to a halt, but the back door was opened for her. With a shrug, she dove in there with her precious burden. She had barely entered when the car squeeled off, leaving tracks of burnt rubber.

"It looks like those guns aren't programmed to fire at cars on the road!" Clark called out as he hung on to the dashboard.

"Domo arigato!" Ranma gasped. She held Akane close to her while taking in deep breaths.

Akane looked up carefully. She was still slightly woozy from the poison

Lois switched to Japanese for their 'guests' benefit. "You are welcome. Hold on! It looks like Luthor has his security team after us already."

Black security vans with red and blue lights flashing were exiting the building compound. External loudspeakers were calling for their surrender even as their guards rolled down their windows to point machinegun pistols at them.

Lois hunched over to keep her head from catching any bullets accidentally. Not that they would hurt, but it might look odd if someone checked this out closely. "Hold on!" She spun a quick turn to the east and swerved around another security truck that tried to block them.

"Head for the river!" Clark called out. They were already doing sixty and still accelerating. "Lois?"

"Don't worry! Hang on!" Lois shouted. Suddenly, she realized that she wasn't getting her deposit back on this car. The light ahead of her turned red. With a sudden x-ray glance at super speed, she estimated exactly where she needed to go to avoid any cars as she cut straight across the "T" intersection. She drove straight over the fence and with a bounce, roared over the edge and jumped like they were the stunt doubles for Dukes of Hazard.

Ranma grabbed Akane again and with a burst of super speed, opened the door and threw her out. "Swim for the far side," she yelled as she dove in after her. If she had waited a bare moment later, she would have seen a white and red blur catch the Ford before it hit the water and carefully carry it to the United States side of the river.

Akane wasn't expecting it so slapped into the river with stinging force. She immediately panicked and started to thrash. Water foamed up spectacularly and failing to increase her buoyancy even slightly. _Can't SWIM!_ she mentally screamed.

Suddenly, sure and strong arms lifted her out of the water like a small child. "Don't worry, I have you," a muffled voice in Japanese said soothingly to her.

"Rising Sun?" Akane said as she looked over her shoulder. "Thank the gods!"

Kasumi grinned as a huge weight lifted off of her heart. "You are safe now. Can't you swim?" she asked. Kasumi knew that she couldn't, but Rising Sun would have no idea.

"No. I sink like a rock. Always have," Akane replied softly. What a way to not impress the super-heroine.

"You might want to get some lessons then," the super heroine said as she landed next to the pair of reporters and their rented car.

Ranma suddenly exited the water in a reverse dive and skidded to a halt next to everyone else. "Hey! It's Rising Sun again!"

Akane suddenly walked up to the smaller girl and lashed out with a slap. "You idiot! I can't swim! You nearly drowned me!" She, unfortunately, misjudged her strength sent Ranma back in the river.

"Hey! Why'd you do that!" she shouted back while holding her hand to her stinging cheek. Ow, that hurt.

"That's what idiots deserve! Didn't you think before you acted?" she shouted back.

Lois and Clark shared a bemused glance. Luthor probably needed to be rescued _from_ these two, not the other way around.

"Well excuse me for trying to save your life! How I supposed to know your unfeminine body sinks like a rock?" Ranma shouted right back.

Rising Sun coughed suddenly. "Excuse me. I know that you've been kidnapped, but we do have a border violation that needs to be dealt with. If you would please ask me for refuge here into the United States, we can look at getting you home as soon as possible." She had to stifle a laugh.

"What about Ranma Saotome?" Lois asked suddenly. Something about this situation seemed off to her, but she couldn't say how.

"Umm..." Ranma muttered. How was she supposed to hide that 'he' was free already? "He, um, got loose already. Probably running around out there.

"Mrs. Lane? I'll take a quick scan when I get back. I'm sure I'll be able to find him in no time," Rising Sun said in her normal, pleasant tone.

-

Rising Sun guided the two bickering young adults into the high security facility, OZ. "General Worthington?" Rising Sun said in introduction. "I understand this is the person you were expecting." He pointed out the female Ranma.

"Yes. And you are Akane Tendo?" the general asked as he looked over the young woman in slacks and a T-shirt.

Akane bowed. "Yes. Thank you for helping rescue us," she replied.

"You are welcome. We have lodged a complaint with the Mexican authorities, but Lex Luthor seems to have an air-tight alibi. He was seen at a luncheon with the Mayor Alvaredo. So no charges are being pressed against him at this time. An _investigation_ is being launched to find out what happened, of course."

Ranma looked around. This place sure was ugly. And there were a lot of people in military uniforms.

"Please, this way. I understand you are now enhanced Miss Tendo?"

"I guess so. I'm _really_ strong."

The general led them both to a laboratory that seemed to include several fitness machines. "Dr. Newtrich here will be more than happy to run those tests and then we can see about getting you home."

"I would be more than happy to give them a lift, general," Rising Sun said. "I have to drop in on the White House to brief the President, but I should be back in time for that."

Lucy Newtrich waited for Rising Sun to depart. "Well, let's see what you can both do. I'm also interested in the machine that was used to enhance Akane. We will start with your strength."

For the next hour or so she tried to test their abilities, but they consistently maxed out the devices she had for testing strength and speed.

"Well, I'm a bit stymied here. I'm having a hard time testing your physical limits, though I think that Ranma here is maybe a quarter again as strong or fast. She seems to be having a much easier time of it. But I'm seeing a very unusual situation. You seem to both be finding it tough to get past a certain level. Akane more than Ranma."

"She's probably just learning how to push herself to her limits. It's kind of weird, but I can't fly anymore, no matter how hard I try."

Lucy snapped her fingers. "That's it. We can do the lead test!"

Ranma and Akane shared a confused look. "Lead is heavy, but how is that going to test us? We've been lifting tons easily!"

"Hundreds of tons, actually. Actually, we test to see how much lead you can see through." The scientist smiled at the two kids.

"I have x-ray vision?" Akane asked mutely. Was she becoming an alien? Suddenly, a reoccurring thought came back to her. "You never peeked with your x-ray vision, did you?" she suddenly shouted at Ranma.

"What?" the other girl replied, looking confused and starting to get upset.

"You pervert!"

"Miss Tendo? If you would both follow me?" Lucille said, suddenly getting worried. This bio-lab would be quite expensive to rebuild and restraining _two_ people enhanced to their level would totally break her secret identity.

Akane continued to glare at the other girl, her mind suddenly suspicious of the other girl's use of x-ray vision.

"X-ray vision isn't that hard to use, if you have it at all. It's actually one of the last 'super-senses' but first real super-power that you can develop," Lucy blathered on, trying to distract. "All you have to do is focus on an object and try to force yourself to look beyond it."

The young woman held up her hand to look at her hand. She stared at it intently. "Wow, it works. I can see that crack where I broke my finger just a few days ago!" She clenched her fist. The finger only twinged slightly. It was almost fully healed.

The scientist had Ranma sit down first in a chair and explained the principle. Lead foil sheets would be interposed between her and an object, measure how much lead she could see through. Ten minutes of checking and Lucy had her information, although she was surprised to find that Ranma and Akane both wavered on how far they could see.

It was like their sight was elastic and they were forcing it to work with some muscle. This was quite different than anyone else she'd tested. Even Superman's vision was pretty solid and wouldn't waver. It would require some more thought and testing.

There was a knocking at the door of the vision lab. Without waiting for confirmation, Rising Sun walked in. "Hello there. Are you two ready to-"

"Kasumi?" Akane screeched.

The helmet seemed to turn to look at her. With a sigh, she closed the door behind her and locked it. And then she doffed her helmet. "I see your X-ray vision is working now," she commented dryly.

"Wait a second!" Ranma asked. "How could she tell? All you can see through your visor is your eyes!"

"She's my sister! That's all I needed to see to recognize her!" Akane snapped back. "And I'm still not happy with you! Or you!" she said turning on her sister. "How could you hide this from us? We're your family!"

"I hid it _because_ you are family. How many Yakuza would want to know where Rising Sun lived? Who her defenseless family was?" Kasumi snapped back. "I was given these powers to save my life, but now I have a chance to really help the world."

Akane blinked in shock. Kasumi _never_ raised her voice. "Wha-?"

"Since I've become Rising Sun I've become a target. I wanted to shield you from that world, where madman and criminals want to try to take over the world with terror, but it doesn't look like I can do that anymore."

Lucille kicked up her feet and put her hands behind her head. "So what are you going to do now? Are you going to help your sister or are you going to sulk like a child."

Akane suddenly saw red. How dare this American say that to her? She wasn't a child! Unfortunately, she lost what little control of her strength she had and her slap sent Lucille straight through the wall, surprising everyone. She just stared at her hand in shock. "I've killed her!" she whispered in horror.

Her eyes rolled up in her head and she fainted dead away.

"Akane!" Ranma and Kasumi yelled.


	7. Arrival and secrets

Ranma Unleashed VII

-

"You can stand up now, Lucille," Kasumi said as she shook her head. Akane lay on the floor where she had fainted while Ranma checked her out.

"Huh?" Ranma said in confusion. She looked up to see Lucille brush a chunk of concrete off of herself quite easily. She walked back into her lab from the nearby storage room, scowling at the shattered wall and equipment.

Looking totally unhurt, Lucille glared at Kasumi. "Some of us still have secrets, you know."

"Ranma and Akane already know that you have an enhancement, Lucille. So that is no secret. Right?" The older Japanese girl looked at her blandly.

"Ah. Right. Of course." Lucille tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ears.

There was a knock on the door. Lucille walked to it and opened it. A quick explanation to the Airforce guards about the accident and the door was closed.

Kasumi suddenly narrowed her eyes in thought. "This is a good opportunity to put a scare into Akane. Her temper gets her into too many problems. And now that she is stronger than fifty men, we just can't have her losing her temper any more."

"Spoiled brat, I take it?" the scientist asked as she started to tap her forefinger on her lips thoughtfully.

"Yes," she said in reply with a sigh. "After mother died, our family nearly fell apart. Father is still just a shadow of the man he used to be. Nabiki turned a bit mean." Kasumi smiled to herself. "Still the same sense of humor though. Akane... became angry."

Lucille shrugged. She'd remembered reading that in some report somewhere. The confirmation of Kasumi being Rising Sun hadn't really surprised her at all.

"What about you?" Ranma asked blithely. Akane seemed fine, just fainted. Probably better to let her wake on her own.

"I retreated into supporting my family. Cooking, cleaning. It took getting poisoned on live television to shake me out of my pity," she replied with a smile. She pursed her lips, listening to Akane's heartbeat. "I think we really do need to put a scare into her to shake _her_ out of her anger." She disappeared in a blur.

Lucille squawked in protest as the white and red blur zipped around her. The bandages and sling artfully gave her the appearance of being hurt. The scientist slumped in her seat. "Fine. I'll go along with this plan." She used her own moral compass... 'What would Superman do?' And this was one of those schemes that Clark _would_ do, if the situation called for it. Dang it.

Kasumi shook Akane forcefully. "Akane! Wake up, Akane!"

"Kasumi? I had a horrible dream that I couldn't control my own strength and hurt someone," the woozy girl said as she awoke.

Her older sister winced, but put on a stern face. "That wasn't a dream. You did hurt someone."

Akane looked over in shock at Lucille Newtrich, who was theatrically sagged in a chair, trying to look as wan as possible. She managed to look fairly convincing as an injured person. The young girl sat up, looking a bit fearful.

"Lucille, I appreciate you not pressing charges at this point. I don't know what my father would do if Akane had to be remanded into juvenile services for assault. I'd better take her to the Warehouse until she learns how to better control herself." Kasumi put her helmet back on, resuming her persona as Rising Sun. She led the two martial artists out the door.

Akane's face fell, becoming pale. Juvenile Services? Wasn't that basically prison for kids?

Lucille sighed and shook her head. All in the day of a super-heroine, she mused to herself. She used her 'undamaged' hand to set her totally useless glasses back on her face. It was little things like that, that made disguises so effective.

-

Rising Sun flew her sister and future brother-in-law towards a non-descriptive warehouse with an overgrown field. Several tanker trailers were parked there; Waldecker's failed experiment for building his own personal space station. Kasumi made a mental note that she needed to visit William some time at his 'Folly'. It was a veritable paradise of lush plants growing in low gravity.

"What this place?" Ranma asked. She had a terribly cute little frown that made her look adorable. Something that would have horrified her to be told.

Rising Sun tapped a one hundred digit code into the panel by the door. It buzzed and she pushed open the door. As soon as the door was closed, she took off her helmet again. "This is where people that have gained super powers have to train to control their powers. I spent about two weeks here, but Akane should only need a few days. I hope."

"How do you train?" Akane asked interestedly. Her body was stooped just a bit, signaling that she wasn't over her shock. Would she really be thrown in jail?

Kasumi disappeared in a blur and then reappeared the same way. "With eggs. I hope we have enough here." She led the duo over to a table that had several cups glued to the table. "The object is to pick up the egg and put it in each cup and then move down the line."

"That doesn't seem tough," her younger sister said.

"You have to do it fast and you have to let each egg go before picking it back up. I can make it look like the egg is in all six cups." Kasumi smiled with a glint of challenge in her eyes. Her baby sister could never resist a challenge.

Ranma snickered. "That could be tricky."

-

Three pretty women came up on deck of the very disreputable schooner that had docked on deserted beach on the west coast of Japan. The rough group of sailors stood in between them and the small spur of land.

The ugly captain with a heavily scarred face smiled. "Well, ladies. We brought you here, just like you asked. Now there is the matter of payment."

The leader of the three Chinese women raised an eyebrow at that. "We have already paid you in gold." All three Chinese girls were stunningly beautiful. Two of them looked closely related. Perhaps they were sisters.

The captain smiled, a ghastly thing, as he held up a pistol. He loved the look of fear in his victim's eyes.

The look that was definitely not appearing on the faces of the pretty Chinese girls in front of him as they coolly looked at him and his men's guns.

"Grandmother? May I deal with these dogs?"

"No, Shan Pu. I think it would be best if I dealt with these... dogs." Cologne had never moved her eyes from the smugglers. Had her newfound confidence and invulnerability made her make a mistake in choosing whom would smuggle them to this land?

"Dog?" the captain spluttered angrily. "I'll get my worth after selling you to the Triad to work in-" His tirade was caught short as the 'grandmother' appeared in front of him instantly and buried her fist in his stomach. The other sailors all blinked in astonishment.

Cologne narrowed her eyes. "Slavers. I thought your ship smelled odd. Ra Tzura, take Shan Pu away while I... deal with this."

Shan Pu let the other elder lead her away in a great bound over the head of the sailors. She heard the crack of guns being fired and winced. Ruthless men, fighting her grandmother in her rejuvenated state? It would be a massacre.

The roar as the fuel tank exploded covered the abject terror of the screaming men.

-

"Ranma! This is all your fault!" a young woman screamed out. She was lost, out in the woods on a back road. Her mis-sized clothes seemed to be more something a young man would wear.

"Ranma? That wouldn't be Ranma Saotome, would it?" another young man said from up the road. He seemed to be pushing a cooking cart in front of him. His long hair was held back into a ponytail. Across his back was a large-handled cooking spatula. Though it did have a sharp edge.

"Yeah, it would be. Who are you?" the girl said bluntly like a boy would, as many 'tough' girls were wont to do these days.

"Ukyo Kounji. Well, if it is the Ranma Saotome that I think you are talking about, I have a matter of honor and revenge with him." The effeminate looking boy grinned evilly.

"So you are headed to Nerima, too?" Ryoga asked hopefully.

Ukyo blinked in surprise. "You do realize we are in Osaka?"

"Is that far from Tokyo?"

"What are you, some kind of idiot? It's on a different island!" Ukyo shouted.

"Really?"

-

Akane walked into her house, her head held down. It had been a disconcerting couple of days. Kidnapping, super-powers and the threat of being thrown into juvenile prison had frazzled her nerves.

"Uh, see ya!" Ranma yelled out to Rising Sun with a quick wave. Rising Sun blurred off at super speeds, a white-red streak in the sky.

"The prodigals return, I see," Nabiki said from the kitchen table. Her father and Genma were there too.

"Where is Kasumi?" Akane asked in an uncomfortable tone. She didn't like lying to her father, but Kasumi had been very insistent on her secret identity.

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Caught up at work. She called just a few minutes ago to say she was trying to get out of her office."

"Your sister has an important job! I can only hope that you and Akane hold such prestigious positions when you graduate high school!" Soun said, throwing a glare at his second daughter.

She grimaced in response to that jab, but nodded. "Your teachers sent you a pile of school work. Both of you," she said, nodding at Ranma too.

"You haven't been slacking off, have you, boy?" Genma said, glaring at his 'son'.

She gave him a flat look. "I had so much time in between being kidnapped, threatened and being poked and prodded. Com'on, Akane. Let's get to work on our home work." She grabbed Akane's hand and dragged her out of the room up then up the stairs.

Finally, with a muted snarl, Akane yanked her hand away from the other girl. "Let me go!"

"Um, sure?" Ranma suddenly grinned and in a low whisper, said to her quietly, "I happen to know that super-speed makes homework a snap!"

-

The teacher stood up and directed everyone's attention to a young man that stood at the front of the class. "Everyone welcome our new transfer student, Ukyo Kounji! Please introduce yourself!"

Ranma stared at the new person quizzically. "Ucchan?" As the boy grilled up and then served some of his food it clicked in for sure. "Ucchan!" he called out. He bounded to the front of the room with a wide smile.

"Ranma Saotome... I finally found you," Ukyo said with glittering hatred showing. "I am going to destroy you for what you did to me!" In a blur of movement, Ukyo crafted another okynomaki and threw it at Ranma.

"Huh? Is that a challenge? What did I do?" Ranma asked, his smile falling from his face. He looked over the confection warily.

"Pretending to forget won't save you, Ranma Saotome! I'll only be appeased over your broken body!" Ukyo shouted, point a finger accusingly.

The teacher broke in at that point, getting the class back on schedule. She glared at the two piles of neat homework. This Ranma was going to be a disruptive influence, she could tell. She'd better inform the administration.

-

"So, you can't remember why this Ukyo hates you?" Akane asked after school as they walked home.

"Not really." Ranma jumped off the fence and into puddle. With a flick of his toes, he splashed himself with a bit of water. With a bound, she was back on the fence, thinking it over.

"Why'd you do that?" the other girl asked.

"So I can remember better. I've got an almost photographic memory and think much, much faster, as a girl," she replied blandly.

Akane quirked her left eyebrow at that, but tried to bring up a memory of Luthor threatening her. She gulped as she realized that she could recite, word for word, what he said exactly. She thought back further. The memory was a first vague, but in moments crystallized into clarity. "Mother..." she murmured to herself. She tried to stop the welling of tears, but was fighting a futile fight.

"Akane?" Ranma asked worriedly. She hopped back off the fence and carefully put hand on Akane's shoulder.

"I can remember my mother," she replied, tears of painful joy streaming down her face. "I had thought I had forgotten, but this... change... I can remember her."

"Oh," the redhead replied uncomfortably.

"Thank you. Out of all of this wackiness, this made it all worth it," Akane said with a smile.

"Yeah. It takes a bit of effort, but you can bring up a lot of old memories!" Ranma grinned, then turned serious. "And I need to ask my old man exactly why we abandoned... her?" In shock, Ranma stopped walking. "Ukyo was this girl I knew, right after we started our trip about ten years ago."

"Ranma, that didn't look like a girl," Akane noted.

"I think I need to beat some answers out of my old man first!" she said angrily, even as they arrived at the Tendo Dojo. They opened the door to find a beaten man lying on the ground. "Pop!" Ranma yelled, charging over to her defeated father. "Who did this to you?"

"Heh. It doesn't matter. It's an old matter of my honor," Genma said weakly.

"Does it have to do with abandoning this Ukyo girl a long time ago?" Ranma asked, a thoroughly disgusted look on her face.

"Wha-? How did you-? No, of course not!" her father sputtered.

"Pop, how about you tell me before we have to _spar_ for a little bit." The redhead started to crack her knuckles ominously.

Genma recovered almost instantly, hands held up defensively. His earlier signs of punishment were almost totally gone. "Now, now! Let's not be hasty!"

"Who is this Ukyo and why is she so angry at us?"

"It was a matter a long time ago! I can't believe she held a grudge for so long!"

"Pop!" she snarled.

Akane just shook her head. She was just starting to walk off when Genma dropped his bomb.

"I can't believe she's still angry over taking her dowry," he said with a nervous laugh.

Ranma just blinked at her father. _Dowry?_ "Wait, you mean I'm engaged to her? I thought I was engaged to Akane!"

"You are! You must understand; we were desperate! Ukyo's father approached me in a moment weakness. He offered his cart and I, of course, refused. I explained that you were already engaged. He pushed her and the cart and all that wonderful food off onto me!" Genma frowned. "But he demanded that I take his daughter. I could not take her, so I took off with the cart."

"So you took the dowry, but abandoned the girl?" Akane cried out. "No wonder she's angry!"

"But I was so hungry!" Genma cried out, crocodile tears evident.

Ranma started to rub her forehead as if she was getting a headache. "I can't believe you did that. Wait. Yes, I can." She clubbed him down, carefully not causing any permanent injuries. "You _always_ do something to screw up my life!"

Akane watched Ranma carefully, while trying to appear nonchalant about the whole situation. Why should she care about his, er her, problems. "So what are you going to do?"

"I dunno. I guess I have to accept her challenge."

-

"So, Kasumi, when were you going to say something?" Nabiki asked later as Ranma and Akane practiced out in the dojo. Soun's voice could be heard berating them for some failure in their practice.

Kasumi made a show of thinking hard. "Did I forget to tell you something?"

Very slick, Nabiki thought to herself. "Not much, except the fact that you are moonlighting as the super-heroine Rising Sun?"

"I'm very flattered that you think so, but what makes you think that?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"One, you are never around when Rising Sun is doing her thing. No, not sometimes. _Every _time. Two, Rising Sun seems to be about as self-conscious as you would be wearing that sort of get up. And three?" Nabiki smiled at this. "Your cure."

"My cure? The poison?"

"The regular enhancement process wouldn't have saved you. It had to be a special one. And considering that it was the American _White House_ that announced it, it had to be the Presidential Enhancement," her younger sister finally announced while smiling.

"Very astute! Now I'm afraid I'll have to kill you and hide the body," Kasumi said with an entirely too calm voice. She took a sip from her tea and looked at Nabiki levelly.

"What?"

Kasumi suddenly disappeared, only to shout 'boo' right behind Nabiki who squeaked in fear for a moment. Her older sister knelt down next to her while laughing, her hands held tightly around her torso. "Oh, the look on your face!"

"That's not funny!" Nabiki yelled out.

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

"You haven't pulled a prank in forever!" her younger sister said accusingly.

"I'll do practical jokes on special occasions," Kasumi reassured quietly, a small smile on her lips.

"Sheesh, those Americans really got you to loosen up," Nabiki groused.

"We can't hold onto the past forever, Nabiki," she replied. "Oh, and please don't noise that secret around. The Emperor would be quite upset with my if my family got that out and into the open."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

-

"Sheesh, Ranma. You really let her pound you," Akane said as she scanned the destroyed battle ring. Ukyo had departed after being defeated. The only thing hurt on her was her pride though. The challenge ring, hot griddle and all, was quite destroyed.

"I didn't _let_ her pound me," Ranma said angrily. He was nursing his bruises and burns gingerly. Everyone else from Furinkan High was leaving.

Akane waited until they were mostly alone and then softly said, "You idiot." She helped him up.

He looked at her angrily. "Why'd you say that?"

"You let her hit you and you know it. You know at _least _three special techniques that could have defeated her after she started throwing those gunpowder bombs around. And those are only the ones I've seen you training for," she replied absently. She slipped her arm under his shoulder to help him walk home. "You could have gotten hurt. Well, hurt _worse!_"

She didn't say anything more, even as they walked to the Tendo Dojo. Ranma was sullenly silent. He'd tried to rebuff her helping hands, but after being unable to even hobble he just let her help him.

"Do you feel better?" she asked finally, just at the gate.

He shot her a look, then slumped in defeat. "No. Uchan still hates me, but I couldn't just _let_ her beat me."

"She's going to keep trying, isn't she?" Without any effort, Akane held up her fiancée and opened the gate easily.

"Yeah! It's a good incentive for her." Ranma smiled at that. "And maybe I can figure out some way to help her. But I just don't see how. I mean, if we weren't getting married, maybe I could do something."

"Oh, and what would you do?"

Ranma sighed again. "I really don't know."

-

"Finally, Nerima!" one of the three figures wearing slinky Chinese dresses

"And the death of the village-destroyer!" Shampoo exclaimed.

"All in good time, granddaughter. All in good time."


End file.
